Paralanguage
Categories: Linguistics stubs | Kjuyu | Social philosophy
Paralanguage describes the non-verbal elements of communication, often used (consciously or unconsciously) to convey emotion. This may include gestures, facial expressions, pitch, volume and intonation. Sometimes the definition is restricted to vocally-produced sounds. In email and chatroom settings, these paralinguistic elements may be displayed by emoticons, font and color choices, use of uppercase, or by other means.
Paralinguistics is the study of paralanguage. Both terms are also sometimes referred to as kinesics.
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Linguistics
Para is a Greek prefix that means beside, near, or alongside. Hence paralanguage describes the nonverbal communication that accompanies verbal communication. For example, something as simple as a wink in conjunction with a spoken phrase may completely change the meaning of that phrase. Language here is the spoken phrase and the paralanguage is the wink that occurs alongside the language and modifies its meaning.
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References
- Robbins, S. and Langton, N. (2001) Organizational Behaviour: Concepts, Controversies, Applications (2nd Canadian ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-H