Communications 103 - Glossary Terms

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addition -

Back 1

adding extra parts to a word

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clarifying questions -

Back 2

questions that invite another person to elaborate on his or her meaning

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comparing questions -

Back 3

questions that invite examination of similarities and differences

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connotative meaning -

Back 4

the personal associations people make for a symbol

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constitutive rules -

Back 5

rules to help sort out the meaning of words or phrases

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cosmopolitan communicators -

Back 6

communicators who acknowledge the existence of a number of different, valid meanings for words

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denotative meaning -

Back 7

the “dictionary” or objective meaning people give to a symbol

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episode -

Back 8

sequence of messages that has a clear beginning, an end, and a set of constitutive and regulative rules

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ethnocentric communicators -

Back 9

communicators who recognize only their own meanings for words as valid and reject alternative meanings as wrong

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expressiveness -

Back 10

skill of animating verbal and nonverbal communication

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gender-as-culture hypothesis -

Back 11

men and women are socialized into a masculine or feminine culture given their differential use of language

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hate speech -

Back 12

speech attacks on other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation

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hypothetical questions -

Back 13

solicit responses to what-if situations

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I-message -

Back 14

statement that labels the speaker’s own behavior

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indexing -

Back 15

using language that places an issue, event, or person in a specific time or context

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intensity -

Back 16

the volume of the speaker’s voice

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interpretive questions -

Back 17

solicit a person’s subjective opinions and perspectives

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Ladder of Abstraction -

Back 18

S. I. Hayakawa’s description of language on a continuum from very concrete to the abstract

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language -

Back 19

rule-guided system of symbols that allows us to take messages and utterances in the form of words and translate them into meaning

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language community -

Back 20

group of people who have developed a common set of constitutive and regulative rules which guide the meaning of words and appropriate reactions to them

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linguistic determinism -

Back 21

language determines what we see in the world and how we think

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objective questions -

Back 22

fact-based questions asking interviewee for impartial descriptions of events and situations

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omission -

Back 23

leaving out, not saying, part of a word

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politically correct (PC) language -

Back 24

words and phrases that attempt to remove or compensate for any traces of sexism, racism, ageism, heterocentrism or potentially offensive, derogatory meanings

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pronunciation -

Back 25

accenting of syllables in a word

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referent -

Back 26

the thing to which a symbol refers

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regulative rules -

Back 27

rules that guide a response

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relationship -

Back 28

ongoing, interdependent process of interaction between two or more people

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Sapir-Whorf hypothesis -

Back 29

theory that language determines what we see in the world and how we think

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showing questions -

Back 30

questions that invite the respondent to focus on specific actions or activities

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signified -

Back 31

object or phenomena that is represented by a word or symbol

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signifier -

Back 32

word or symbol that we associate with an object or phenomenon

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social commitment -

Back 33

the values and political positions we hold

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social constructionism -

Back 34

theory that language creates our perceptions of reality and the mode of our relational interactions

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substitution -

Back 35

replacing part of a word with an incorrect sound

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symbol -

Back 36

word, sound, action, or gesture that arbitrarily refers to a person, idea, or object

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verbal communication -

Back 37

behavior that exchanges meaning using language as a means; can be written, spoken, or otherwise behaviorally or visually transmitted, as in the case of American Sign Language (ASL)

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we-message -

Back 38

statement that labels and describes the joint behaviors of two or more people

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you-message -

Back 39

statement that labels another person and involves some evaluation of that person’s behavior

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affect blend -

Back 40

blending of two or more affect displays into one facial expression

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affect displays -

Back 41

facial expressions

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appearance -

Back 42

presentation of one’s physical self

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artifacts -

Back 43

objects in an environment that make nonverbal statements about the identity and personality of their owner

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chronemics -

Back 44

intentional and unintentional use of time to communicate

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emblem -

Back 45

nonverbal cue that has meaning for a certain cultural group, substitutes for a word and translates almost directly into a word phrase

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expressiveness -

Back 46

skill of animating verbal and nonverbal communication

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eye contact -

Back 47

looking directly at a person

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facial expression -

Back 48

nonverbal cues from the face showing emotion and mood

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feng shui -

Back 49

Chinese approach to spatial arrangement suggesting that artifacts have unique powers when arranged in a certain way

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gestures -

Back 50

large and small movements of the hands and arms that communicate meaning within a society or culture

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haptics -

Back 51

touch; tactile contact among people

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illustrator -

Back 52

nonverbal cue that complements and accents a verbal message

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intimate space -

Back 53

space that starts at the skin and extends out 18 inches around a person

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kinesics -

Back 54

body communication that focuses on how people communicate through movement and posture, gestures, and the face and eyes