CAPE Communication Studies

Module 2: Vocabulary

Cons. Words Explanation

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1 Language Language is:

 The broad term which refers to the use of the

thousands of all such systems as a general
phenomenon.

 the ability of humans to express themselves

through words that define our feelings,
describe what we see or hear, explain how
we understand the world around us and
express our thoughts.

 system of communication between humans,

through written and vocal symbols

 speech peculiar to an ethnic, national, or

cultural group

 words, especially employed in any art,

branch of knowledge, or profession

 a person’s characteristic mode of speech

 by extension, the articulate or inarticulate

expression of thought and feeling by living
creatures

 it is a characteristic that separates humans

from the rest of the animal kingdom.
2 A system of arbitrary symbols and rules that
A Language humans use to communicate with each other.

Specific to a particular community.

Examples
 English
 German
 Spanish
Difference  Hindi
between 'Language' and 'a
language' A language is any distinct system of verbal
expression.
 This means that a language is distinguishable from
other languages because of certain characteristics,
namely structure and vocabulary.
Language refers to a system of communication
unique to human beings that makes use of written
and vocal symbols.

A language, on the other hand is a subcategory of

this type of communication peculiar to a particular
people, region, geographical region or socio-political
background.
For example, Creole languages are largely spoken in
the Caribbean and Hindi largely spoken in India.

In other words, Language refers to the system of

human communication and is a more general term
than a language which is a given variety spoken by a
given speech community (read country).
The distinction is usually made by capitalizing the
'L' of the more general term.
3 Dialect A dialect is:

 any variety of a language spoken by a group

of people.

 sub-varieties of a language associated with

geographical regions, societal functions and
social differences among speakers.

 a subclass of any language, exhibiting the

regional, social class, ethnicity, occupational
and gender differences of the speakers of that
language.

Dialects differ in their pronunciation systems,

grammatical systems, vocabulary, word meanings
and discourse practices
4 Acrolect Acrolect is the standard variety of a language. So
therefore, acrolect will be Jamaican Standard
English.

Acrolect is spoken more in formal situations, so

therefore the Parliamentarian should be using
it. This is what people refer to as "good english".

5 Mesolect This a mixture of the Creole and Standard English.

It leans more on the standard English side.

 This more in the urban areas.

6 Basilect This is basically Creole.

It is used more in the rural areas.

7 Standard varieties The language or dialect of a country used for formal

and official purposes, such as education.

The dialects that have undergone a process of

standardisation - that is, they have been encoded in
dictionaries and grammar books, through a writing
system.

8 Official Language This is the language that is given unique legal status
as the language used in the country’s legislative
bodies.
9 Creole A Creole is a language that comes into being through
contact between two or more languages.

The vernaculars of their territories, as well as the

first languages of the majority of its inhabitants - the
languages they first learn to speak, before attending
school.

Sometimes Creole languages are referred to as patois

or patwa.

10 Caribbean Standard The variety of English that has undergone substantial

English regularisation and is associated with formal
schooling, language assessment and official print
publications, such as public service announcements
and newspapers of record.

The variety our teachers concentrate on teaching us,

especially for the purposes of reading, formal writing
and analysing educational and technical material.

11 Characteristics of Human
Language Language is Uniquely Human: Lelia Lord et al
(2012) in Cape Communication Studies examined
some key words in anthropologist Edward Sapir’s
definition of language: “Language is a purely
human and non-instinctive method of
communicating ideas, emotions and desires by
means of a system of voluntarily
produced symbols.” Lord et al noted, “Only humans
have the physical capability to pronounce the wide
variety of sounds that are used in the
world’s languages. The human brain capacity also
provides the ability to deal with complex issues, to
reason and to plan for the future. Even though
higher-order apes can be taught to recognize words
and human sounds through rigorous training, they
never achieve language more sophisticated than that
of a two-year-old.” As Veronica Simon and Sandra
Osborne (2009) highlighted in CAPE
Communication Studies, “While parrots and
parakeets can be taught to reproduce sound
sequences, they cannot be taught to formulate
sentences on their own or to respond sensibly to a
verbal message.”

Lord et al said, “Language is also human because it

can deal with displacement. This means that
language can be used to discuss things that are not
present and never existed, like science- fiction
writing. We also use language to discuss language.
In addition, any human can acquire any human
language, once exposed to it, whereas animals
cannot reproduce or imitate sounds not common to
their species.” (page 62)

Although other species of animals have systems of

communication that allow them to perform basic
functions (some species can even learn words), they
are unable to respond in a full sentence, articulate an
emotional response or conduct conversations with
the range and complexity with which human beings
do.

Naturally Acquired
Humans acquire and learn language as part of our
normal development; we learn to speak our mother
tongue without structured lessons. Babies babble as
they imitate the words used by the adults around
them until eventually they start to form words and
then construct simple sentences.

Maturational
As people age, their ability to understand and use
language increases. Adults tend to be able to
construct more complex sentences than children and
have a greater vocabulary.

Verbal
Language is first spoken and then written.
Systematic There is order in how sound patterns are
pronounced and how words are used. Language is
rule-governed.

Symbolic
Language is Symbolic: Simon and Osborne said:
“This means that it uses words as representations or
symbols of ideas. Each word represents some idea or
thing that has a meaning. Words need definitions
because they are symbols of something else. In order
for language to make sense, or be mutually
intelligible among its speakers, there must be
commonly understood or accepted meanings
attributed to its symbols.”

A word is a symbol representing something: a

person, a feeling, an action, an abstract idea. There
are nouns and verbs but also adjectives, adverbs,
conjunctions and other types of word. Language
gives meaning to these symbols. For example,
English speakers know what the words ‘thank you’
mean. In French, the same meaning is attached to a
different symbol, ‘merci’.

Non-instinctive (naturally acquired): Lord et al

pointed out, “While humans are born with the
ability to acquire language, they can only do so
through imitation. Therefore, a child raised in an
environment where he or she is not exposed to
language will not learn to speak.” (pages 62-63)

Dynamic
Language is always changing.
The meanings of words can change over time.
New words can appear and be accepted by the
masses without discussion.
Some words fall out of use.
Language evolves in response to changes and
differences in the societies and communities using it.
Factors which can cause change in a language
include:
 education;
 class;
 age;
 migration;
 popular
 culture;
 commerce;
 technology.
 Language is Systematic: Simon and Osborne (2009)
stated: “Unlike other forms of communication,
language makes use of a number of different
systems. One such system is sound. Each language
has its accepted sound patterns that are easily
recognizable to its speakers. You can see that there
are certain combinations of letter sounds that appear
in other languages that are not acceptable in English
even though these languages use the same
orthography or writing system. Have you noticed
that many who learn English as a second language
often have difficulty pronouncing words with the
‘th’ sound? That is because this particular
combination letter sound does not occur in their own
languages. Sounds take on meaning in a language
only when they are recognizable to its speakers.
“Another important system of language is
grammar. The grammar of a language is a set rules
that govern how the words of the language are put
together to make meaning…Word order is critical to
meaning.”

12 Denotative Language The denotative meaning of a word is simply the

commonly accepted meaning or the definition that
you would find if you were to look up that word in a
dictionary. But the word “pig ” can have more than
one meaning for some listeners, depending on the
context in which the word is used and the past
experiences of the listener.

We refer to these other meanings as the connotative

meaning .Typically, the connotative meaning of a
word has more of an emotional association and is
more likely to trigger an emotional response than the
denotative meaning.

13 Connotative Language Connotation refers to the subjective interpretation of

terms and objects.

14 Functions/Purposes of Communication Function:

Language The main function of language is for
communicating information, ideas and
thoughts. People use language to make
statements (Communication Studies is a
complex course.); commands (Get out of
there!); questions (Do you believe she will
pass this subject?), as well as for oaths and
curses.
Reflective Function:
We use language to recall and recapture past
experiences e.g thinking about when you got
in an accident or were in the hospital.

Expressive Function:
Language can be used simply to express
one's feelings, ideas, attitudes, without
necessarily taking the reader or listener into
consideration e.g. diary, journal...

Ritual Function:
A marking in some way of important events
or stages in all human societies.
Rituals are normally a part of ceremonies
which involve the repetition of a prescribed,
usually written, form of language. For
example, during funerals you might hear
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust...", weddings, "I
now pronounce you husband and wife" or
"for better or worse". Other examples include
The Lord's Prayer or the national anthem at
school every morning.

Other Social Functions:

A person may use a specific language or
dialect of a language to express solidarity or
closeness with someone/group or to establish
distance. Teenagers like you often coin
words to establish a bond among themselves
from an older generation.

Informative purpose:
In this case language is used with the
intention of giving or conveying information
like a news broadcast, a bulletin board at
your school, a textbook or television guide.

Cognitive purpose:
When language is used cognitively, it is with
the intention of affecting the audience in
some way in order to evoke some type of
response. Therefore, when one uses language
to persuade, entertain, stir to anger or arouse
sympathy, one is using language for
cognitive purposes. Jokes, political speeches
and horror stories are different examples of
ways in which language can be used
cognitively.
 Poetic purpose:
Language used in literary, stylistic or
imaginative ways is poetic. The user focuses
on the structure and pattern of the language
and places emphasis on the manner in which
the language is manipulated. For example, a
poem.

Phatic purposes:
Sometimes language is used simply to
establish or maintain contact among people.
Language used for phatic purposes does not
necessarily seek to generate a meaningful
response. For example, when we greet each
other by saying "hello" or "good morning"
we are using language to maintain social
customs.

Metalinguistic Purpose:
This is the use of language to comment on,
refer to or discuss language itself. A critique
of your friend's essay or speech is
metalinguistic. When you use language to
consider language your purpose is
metalinguistic.

15 Speech Community A group of people sharing a common language or

dialect.

16 Accent A variation in pronunciation.

There is no such thing as a person who speaks

without an accent. However, because your accent is
so much a part of who you are, it is often difficult for
you to identify your own.

17 Code Switching Using more than one language variety during a

conversation or even within a sentence.

No matter what dialect is spoken by a speech

community, each user is capable of manipulating
that dialect in relation to the context of
communication. Depending on whom you are
speaking or writing to, you instinctively vary the
way in which you express yourself. This type of
language variation is called code switching. Think
about how you would describe a fight in the
schoolyard to (a) your Principal, (b) your friend and
(c) your parent. Although you may be using the same
 variety of language, you would most likely use
different vocabulary, language structures and even
tones of voice in each case; therefore, your audience
determines your code.

18 Registers A style of speaking or writing used in particular

situations, ranging from very formal to very
informal.

The variety of language that you use at any given

time is your register. Choice of register also
generally reflects the speaker’s/writer’s relationship
with his/her audience.

19 Communicative Behaviour A communicative behaviour is a non-verbal action

that communicates meaning.

The terms ‘non-verbal communication’ and

‘communicative behaviours’ are used
interchangeably. The reason is that non-verbal
communication is the use of physical actions and
manipulations to convey meaning and so it is
considered to be communicative behaviour –
behaviour that communicates meaning.

20 Attitudes to language Attitude to language is how one thinks and feels

about his/ her own language and the language of
others.

21 Monolingual A society where only one language is used is said to

be monolingual.

22 Bilingual Using two languages

Multilingual Using multiple languages

23 Vernacular The commonly spoken language or dialect of a

particular people or place.

Vernaculars are mass languages: the varieties which

the majority of speakers in a country speak, and
sometimes, their only language. Educated speakers
often use these varieties in informal contexts] in the
more related circumstances of everyday life with
friends and relatives.

24 Orthography Written code

25 Official recognition Official recognition means that the language can be

(language) used as a working language, but it would not be
 declared an official language in the national
constitution or other official sources.

26 Accommodation An adjustment of language to reflect a desire for

proximity with another person or community.

27 Divergence An adjustment of language to show distance from

another person or community.

28 Pidgin When people who speak different languages find

themselves in a situation where they have to
communicate with each other for purposes of trade,
business or to survive, these people usually devise a
form of language communication, called a pidgin.
Pidgins are not ordinary languages since they are
normally used only for communication between
persons from different speech communities.
However, in some cases, a pidgin begins to be used
as the first language of people in the same
community (usually the children). This pidgin may
then become a native language; it acquires the more
complex grammar of a full language and is referred
to as a Creole. Therefore, all Creole languages start
as pidgins.
29 Lingua Franca A third language that is distinct from the native
language of both parties involved in the
communication.

Sometimes as the language becomes more

widespread, the native populations of an area will
speak the lingua franca to each other as well.

It can also refer to languages which are native to one

nation (often a colonial power) but used as a second
language for communication between diverse
language communities in a colony or former colony.