Paralanguage Kinesics

LING/ANTH 203
Week 7
The features of language
•Suprasegmental features:
-Paralanguage
-Nonverbal communication:
kinesics, proxemics
•Design features of language
Paralanguage
• Vocal cues that are not directly part of
language (not “language within the circle”)
• Includes: tone, pitch, speed, loudness,
breathiness, whining, whispering
Proxemics
• how people perceive and use space
• US proxemics:
Intimate (0-1.5’)/personal(1.5-4’)/social (4-12’)/public (12’+)
• Control of space & social power
• Cross-cultural variation
Suprasegmental features
• Features that span more than one “segment”
of language (not linked to a particular sound
or word)
• (Later we will talk about how language is
made of segments, and about segmental
features)
Kinesics
• body movement and facial expression
• Includes: eye contact, eyebrow position,
mouth position, whether or not teeth are
showing, walking style
Suprasegmental vs. Linguistic
Meanings
* When your words and your kinesics and/or
paralanguage are contradictory—the
nonverbal signals tend to override the
verbal ones.
1

What are linguistic “segments”?
• sounds (phonemes), which are the building
blocks of words
• words, which are the building blocks of
sentences
• This brings us to…
The DESIGN FEATURES of LANGUAGE
Non-discrete, continuous variation
• Examples of continuous (non-discrete)
variation: loudness, intensity, frequency
• bee dance is based on variation on a
continuum
--richness of food source is denoted by the
liveliness of the dance
--direction denoted by angle of diagonal
dance path
Design feature of language #1:
Discreteness
• Sounds differentiated into segments, “chunks”
-categorical disntinction
• Variation not continuous, not just variation on a
scale.
• Examples: --3 vervet monkey calls
--differences between phonemes a, e, i, o, u, etc.
• It is possible to shift between saying these vowels
without a break, but mentally there is a clear
division between them (demonstrate)
2