ANTH 104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Phatic Expression, Norm (Social), Great Ormond Street Hospital
17 Sep 2018
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Department
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Communication is Social
● Language is a social tool
○ we use it to accomplish social ends
○ sociality is built into the nature and structure of language
● Jakobson's "functions" of language
○ In addition to referring to things, language is used to...
■ affect the addressee (the conative function)
■ imperatives (close the door) insults/complements
■ express something about the speaker (the emotive function)
■ exclamations (wow!)
■ create/maintain a connection b/w speaker and addressee (the phatic
function)
■ greeting, backchannels ("mhm", "uh-huh")
■ comment on/clarify the language being used (the metalingual function)
■ definitions "that is to say..."
■ be aesthetically pleasing (the poetic function)
■ "tick-tock" vs. "tock-tick"
● Language is inherently interactional
○ requires both a speaker & addressee
○ (even when we talk to ourselves. we "split ourselves in two")
○ communication consists not of individual utterances but of conversational give-
and-take
■ "ADJACENCY PAIRS"
■ command and action
■ complement and return
● Language as give and take
○ must understand context
● Communication is highly structured
○ whenever we have a conversation with someone, we rely on implicit rules about
how to have a conversation
■ what to say and what not to say
■ at a dinner party: don't bring up politics, religion, sex
■ do bring up books, movies, weather
■ when to start talking and when to stop talking (how to take turns)
■ good at signaling to others when our turn is over
■ how to behave when other people are talking
○ these rules are culturally specific
● conversational styles
○ HIGH CONSIDERATENESS STYLE
■ pauses between turns
■ very little conversational overlap
■ question-and-answer format
■ listener creates space for the speaker
Document Summary
We use it to accomplish social ends. Sociality is built into the nature and structure of language. In addition to referring to things, language is used to Affect the addressee (the conative function) imperatives (close the door) insults/complements. Express something about the speaker (the emotive function) Create/maintain a connection b/w speaker and addressee (the phatic function) Comment on/clarify the language being used (the metalingual function) Language is inherently interactional requires both a speaker & addressee (even when we talk to ourselves. we "split ourselves in two") Communication consists not of individual utterances but of conversational give- and-take. Whenever we have a conversation with someone, we rely on implicit rules about how to have a conversation. What to say and what not to say. At a dinner party: don"t bring up politics, religion, sex. When to start talking and when to stop talking (how to take turns) Good at signaling to others when our turn is over.
