This presentation is presented at BS Development Communication course Deve-Comm-310

1. Language and its meaning
Rashid Ali Khuhro

2. What Is Language?
• Language
A collection of symbols, letters, or words with
arbitrary meanings that are governed by rules
and used to communicate.
• Decode
The process of assigning meaning to others’
words in order to translate them into thoughts
of your own.

3. Language Has Rules
• Semantics
The study of the way humans use language to evoke meaning
in others.
• Syntax
The way in which words are arranged to form phrases and
sentences.
• Encode
The process of translating your thoughts into words.
• Pragmatics
The study of language as it is used in a social context,
including its effect on the communicators.
• Phatic communication
Communication that is used to establish a mood of sociability
rather than to communicate information or ideas.

4. Language and Culture Are Intertwined
• Culture
The socially transmitted behavior patterns,
beliefs, attitudes, and values of a particular
period, class, community, or population.
• Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
A theory that our perception of reality is
determined by our thought processes and our
thought processes are limited by our language
and, therefore, that language shapes our reality.

5. Language Organizes and Classifies
Reality
Because you cannot account for all the individual things in the
world when you speak, you lump them into groups; thus, all
four-legged pieces of furniture with seats and backs are called
“chairs.” Following is an example of how you might use
classification when trying to identify someone in a crowd:
“See that guy over there?”
“Which one?”
“The tall one.”
“The one with short brown hair?”
“No, the fat one with shoulder-length hair and glasses.”

6. Language Is Arbitrary
To understand language, you need to understand
how words engender meaning. Words are arbitrary:
They have no inherent meanings; they have only
the meanings people give them.
• Denotative meaning
The agreed-upon meaning or dictionary meaning of
a word.
• Connotative meaning
An individualized or personalized meaning of a
word, which may be emotionally laden.

7. Language Is Abstract
Words are abstractions, or simplifications of
what they stand for. Words stand for ideas and
things, but they are not the same as those ideas
and things. People who study meaning say “the
word is not the thing.”

8. How Can Language Be an Enhancement
or an Obstacle to Communication?
• Grammatical Errors
Oral communication, in some situations, does not require the same
attention to grammar as does written communication. For example, to
hear people say, “Can I go with?” and “We’re not sure which
restaurant we’re going to” are common, but neither of these
sentences is desirable in written communication. “May I go with you?”
and “We’re not sure to which restaurant we’re going” are correct but
sound stilted because of the informal nature of these hypothetical
utterances.
• Colloquialisms
Words and phrases used informally.
• Cliché
• An expression that has lost originality and force through overuse.

9. • Euphemisms and Doublespeak
• Euphemism
A more polite, pleasant expression used instead of a socially
unacceptable
• Doublespeak
Any language that is purposefully constructed to disguise its
actual meaning.
• Slang
A specialized language of a group of people who share a
common interest or belong to a similar co-culture.
• Profanity
Language that is disrespectful of things sacred.
• Jargon
The technical language developed by a professional group.

10. Informal and IM Language
Informal language is appropriate in some circumstances.
For example, if you are having a conversation with a
friend or family member, you might avoid some of the
rules of grammar. Sometimes people carelessly impose
this casual or irregular language in more formal settings.
The most recent and fairly widespread transfer of
informal language into formal settings occurs as a result
of electronic communication. Instant messages, or IM,
occurs when people have a typed “chat” in real time with
others who are connected to the Internet. When these
“conversations” are conducted on mobile phones, they
are known as text messaging.

11. • Regionalisms
Words and phrases specific to a particular region or part of
the country.
Sexist, Racist, Heterosexist, and Ageist Language
• Sexist language
Language that excludes individuals on the basis of gender.
• Racist language
Language that insults a group because of its skin color or
ethnicity.
• Heterosexist language
Language that implies that everyone is heterosexual
• Ageist language
Language that describes and denigrates people on the basis of
their age.

12. How Can Language Skills Be Improved?
• Avoid Intentional Confusion
Some people’s verbal patterns become so habitual
that the people using them no longer realize such
patterns are intentionally confusing. They begin to
believe that “everyone” speaks the way they do.
• Use Descriptiveness
The practice of describing observed behavior or
phenomena instead of offering personal reactions
or judgments.

13. a. Check Your Perceptions
One of the most common ways you can be
descriptive is through simple checks on your
perception. To communicate effectively with
another person, you and the other person need
to have a common understanding of an event
that has occurred or a common defi nition of a
particular phenomenon. You can check with
another person to determine if his or her
perception is the same as yours. For example, if
a room feels too hot to you, you might ask,
“Isn’t it hot in here?

14. b. Paraphrasing
Restating another person’s message by
rephrasing the content or intent of the message.
c. Operational definition
A definition that identifies something by
revealing how it works, how it is made, or what it
consists of.

15. • Define Your Terms
Confusion can also arise when you use unusual terms or use
words in a special way. If you suspect someone might
misunderstand your terminology, you must define the term.
• Concrete language
Words and statements that are specific rather than abstract or
vague.
• Dating
Specifying when you made an observation, since everything
changes over time.
• Frozen evaluation
An assessment of a concept that does not change over time.
• Indexing
Identifying the uniqueness of objects, events, and people.

16. Thanks