1. Chapter 5 Silent Communication

2. Nonverbal Communication
The transmission of messages w/o spoken words
Body language…
Smell, Taste, Touch
Proxemics & Kinesics
gender, status, culture & space
types of gestures
Gesture systems...
Sign languages…
analyzing signs
Paralanguage…
Speech substitutes….

3. Body Language Learned in cultural groups Interpreted unconsciously
Often overrides verbal language
~60% of communication?
Beware of guidebooks.

4. Smell, Taste, and Touch Smell Taste Touch And ethnicity, culture
Cigars, perfumes and status
Taste
And group membership
Spicy foods..
Touch
And gender and power
Relation to proxemics….

5. Proxemics Edward Hall, 1950s How people perceive and use space
Cowboy proxemics
Getting to theatre seats.

6. Gender, Status, & Space Entering into someone’s ‘space’
Getting the ‘best’ office
Or the biggest bedroom
Having one’s own ‘space’
Dens vs sewing rooms.

7. Culture and Space Different arrangements Different uses
US grids & French circles
German doors: closed vs open
Different uses
Where to eat in the Comoros
Depends on gender too.

8. Kinesics Ray Birdwhistell, 1950s Body movements Facial expressions
Shrugs, nods. Arm & leg-crossing
Facial expressions
Smiles, frowns, winks
Gestures
Palm up / palm down
Thumbs up!
Kinemes, allokines, & kinemorphs.

9. Typology of Gestures Eckman & Friesen, 1960s Emblems Illustrators
Translatable (waving)
Illustrators
Of what is said (steering)
Affect Displays
Convey emotion (smiling)
Regulators
Control or coordinate (pointing)
Adaptors
Facilitate release (wiggling).

10. Gesture Systems Where verbal communication is difficult
Topics and contexts are limited
Simple alternative systems
Little or no syntax
Sawmills, baseball games, sailboat racing
Complex alternative systems
Syntax based on spoken language:
Australian women mourners
Some monastic orders
Syntax independent of any spoken language
Native American Plains sign language
Signs used in varying order.

11. Paralanguage Sounds that “accompany” speech
But aren’t words themselves
George Trager (1950s)
voice qualities
Loudness, tone of voice
Pitch, speed, rhythm
Vocal modifications:
whispering, cooing, breathy voice, rising intonation
Vocal segregates (or vocal gestures)
Stand on their own
uh-huh, mhmm, shhhh, throat-clearing
Ideophones?
Bam, pow, slurp!.

12. Speech Substitutes Sound signals substitute for spoken words
Or parts of words
Useful for communicating over distances
Examples:
Drum languages
based on tones (Nigeria)
Whistle languages
based on tones (Mazateco)
based on vowels (La Gomera)
different whistled pitches = different vowels

13. Sign Language Used by deaf people Topics and contexts are unlimited
‘Language performed in three-dimensional space’
Topics and contexts are unlimited
Syntax is complex, unique to specific language
American Sign Language (ASL; Ameslan) vs British
Mutually unintelligible; not based on English syntax
Signs = concepts, not words (‘right’ vs ‘right’)
Syntax = one sign can stand for several words
E.g., “I-ask-her” is one sign
vs Signed English (SEE1 & 2) which follows English syntax.

14. Analyzing Signs Primes Three kinds of primes Minimal pairs
Basic elements of signs (correspond to phonemes?)
Combine into morphemes
Three kinds of primes
Hand shape
Fist (A), Flat (B), Cupped (C)
Hand placement
Hand movement
Minimal pairs
Apple vs candy (shape: fist hand vs cupped hand)
Summer vs ugly (place: forehead vs nose level).