Communication and Language
In each lesson a new part of the model is explored.
For example:
-Self plays the role of source/receive
-Perception is the screen through which we view world
-Emotion is an aspect of self
-And now, language is a means of exploring the
complexity of the message part of the model
I hope you are enjoying the text. There are many
interesting little side bars that I hope you are reading
for your own edification.
But, I will move us all beyond the text—as usual.
Language: Background
What do you know about English, the language most of us live in?
For example:
-How many speak it?
-How many words in the OED?
But no German word “schadenfreude”
-What are it’s major characteristics?
dualistic
male
competitive
verbose
concise—
*much more in Bill Bryson’s “The Mother Tongue: English and How it
got that way”
-Are some languages more expressive?
Ex. “Snow” in Inuit
Language: Background
When did speaking first occur? (by the way—80 gen. Since Jesus)
Neanderthals—30,000 yrs. Ago
-Look like?—short with large heads, line-backers?
-Sound like?—
grunts, “e” as sound of “bee”
or “oo” as in “boot”
-Co-existed with the next man-like creature Cro-Magnon
-Then disappeared.
-But why?
Cro-Magnon (homo sapiens sapiens)—20,000 yrs. ago
Deeper in throat/larynx
Choking yet articulation
Neaderthals disappeared after 100,000 generations?
Why?
So, what happened to Cro-Magnon? Disappeared? Why?
What do you think of this as an explanation?
More sophisticated speech.
Compare Neanderthal to Cro-Magnon speech:
Cro-Magnon could have said this:
“Today let's kill some red deer. You take some big sticks and drive the deer out of the
woods and we’ll stand by the riverbank with our spears and kill them as they come
towards us” (Bryson, 1990, p. 23). “We have to us sticks because the democrats recently
got back into office, and they took our guns away again” (Montanan, 2004, p. ?)
So, do you think it was speech development and language
complexity that did them both in?
Language: Background
So, how do children fit in? Do they learn the language?
Imitate us? Or is language innate?
In the beginning was the word . . .
The Tower of Babel . . .
And the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis or Linguistic Relativism
Yet, the basic nature of language is symbolic, subjective,
and rule governed (or is it rule guided?)
*The Semantic Triangle
The Semantic Triangle
Mind
Word ----------------------------------------------------“dog”
Object
Some Final Background Material
According to Dan, language is inherently rhetorical, and
can be used to find meaning.
What does that mean?
Well the first part means that we get things done using
language. Language is an act like running or walking.
Only we use language to move others and ourselves.
Yet, regarding meaning, perhaps, language makes us think
there is meaning when there isn’t any. That’s too heavy.
Now some important stuff from the text:
What is the difference between language and values?
What is the relationship between naming and reality?
What is a euphemism?
What does equivocate mean?
Is English sexist?
Is some language usage more powerful?
One Final Big Thought
How can we see meaning or gain understanding beyond our
language of origin?
That’s it! Wait . . .
Did I hear you talking to yourself? What does that mean? This
language thing can get out of hand. Whose in charge of it
anyway?
Enough is enough. See you in the next chapter.