Concise summary of the second edition of "An introduction to Language and Linguistics" by Ralph W. Fasold | Jeff Connor-Linton.
A straightforward and to the point summary using clear structure following that of the book's chapters. Important key words are printed in bold and the page overview is c...
Chapter 10
Language and culture
The ways of speaking that characterize how you say what you mean occur at every level
of language use. Linguistic elements we use to communicate meaning, thoughts and
speech during a conversation:
Topic – what to talk about
Agonism – using an adversarial format to accomplish goals other than literal
fighting.
Amplitude, pitch, and tone of voice – levels of loudness and pitch combined with
voice quality.
Intonation – the music of language, falling and uplifting intonation.
Overlap VS interruption – speaking at the same time: interruption = taking the
floor away. Cooperative overlap = talking along to show interest and enthusiasm.
Turn taking – how speakers determine who has, gets, or relinquishes the floor.
Conversation is a two-party or multi-party enterprise. Agonism = the second
speaker agreeing or disagreeing, and in how strong of terms? Amplitude = level of
loudness giving impressions or meanings. Intonation = how peremptory or
tentative a speaker sounds.
Indirectness – communicating meaning implicitly rather than explicitly. What
should be stated directly and what should be implied.
Framing – how ways of speaking signal what speakers think they are doing by
talking in a particular way in a particular context.
When habits and expectations regarding their use are not shared, pay attention because
listeners may misinterpret how we mean what we say and speaking also form basis for
judgements we make about other’s intentions and abilities.
Culture = highly complex and multifaceted phenomenon with many cultural influences
like: geographic region, ethnic groups, social class, gender, profession, sexual
orientation, etc.
Language, culture and framing
Framing = governs all other linguistic signals. The way speakers communicate what
they think they are doing in a particular interchange, and therefore how to interpret
what they say. Metamessage = every utterance framed by metamessage that signals
how that utterance is intended (e.g. literally, sarcastically, angrily etc.). It signals what
people think they are doing when they speak particular words in particular ways in
particular context.
Framing makes that language and culture are inseperable: cannot communicate
or interpret meaning through language without signalling metamessages and the way
they are signalled varies from culture to culture. Large part of identification of a certain
group.
Cross-cultural miscommunicaton
Interactional sociolinguistics = sub discipline of linguistics that examines how
language creates meaning in interaction. Contextualization cues = linguistic features that
signal/cue context in which speakers intend (mean) their utterances. The use is
associated by longstanding habit with given intention. Tiny linguistic features that frame
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