PARALANGUAGE Powerpoint 1

PARALANGUAGE

WHAT IS PARALANGUAGE?

PARALANGUAGE MAY BE
DEFINED AS THE VOCAL
BUT NON-VERBAL
DIMENSION OF SPEECH.

PARALANGUAGE REFERS TO:
THE MANNER IN WHICH SOMETHING IS SAID RATHER THAN TO
WHAT IS SAID

VOCAL FEATURES SUCH AS TEMPO, VOLUME, SPEED, PROSODY,
RHYTHM, AND RESONANCE, INTONATION OF SPEECH, PITCH THE HIGHNESS OR LOWNESS OF VOCAL TONE.

VOCALIZATIONS SUCH AS YELLING, LAUGHING, MOANING,

WHINING AND BELCHING - THESE SEND DIFFERENT MESSAGES
IN DIFFERENT CULTURES (JAPAN — GIGGLING INDICATES
EMBARRASSMENT; INDIA – BELCH INDICATES SATISFACTION)

VOCAL SEGREGATES SUCH AS “UH HUH”

AND “SHHH”

VOCAL
FEATURES
• INTONATION IS VARIATION OF SPOKEN PITCH THAT IS NOT

USED TO DISTINGUISH WORDS; INSTEAD IT IS USED FOR A
RANGE OF FUNCTIONS SUCH AS INDICATING THE ATTITUDES
AND EMOTIONS OF THE SPEAKER, SIGNALLING THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STATEMENTS AND QUESTIONS, AND
BETWEEN DIFFERENT TYPES OF QUESTION FOCUSING
ATTENTION ON IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF THE SPOKEN
MESSAGE AND ALSO HELPING TO REGULATE
CONVERSATIONAL INTERACTION

• PROSODY IS THE RHYTHM, STRESS, AND INTONATION OF

SPEECH. PROSODY MAY REFLECT VARIOUS FEATURES OF THE
SPEAKER OR THE UTTERANCE: THE EMOTIONAL STATE OF THE
SPEAKER; THE FORM OF THE UTTERANCE (STATEMENT,
QUESTION, OR COMMAND); THE PRESENCE OF IRONY OR
SARCASM; EMPHASIS, CONTRAST, AND FOCUS; OR OTHER
ELEMENTS OF LANGUAGE THAT MAY NOT BE ENCODED BY
GRAMMAR OR BY CHOICE OF VOCABULARY

THE ROLES OF PARALANGUAGE
IN COMMUNICATION
•TO COMPLEMENT WHAT IS SAID VERBALLY AND ADD TO
THE MEANING OF A VERBAL MESSAGE

•TO REPEAT WHAT WAS SAID VERBALLY AND TO CLARIFY
THE MESSAGE GIVEN

•TO SUBSTITUTE FOR WHAT WOULD BE SAID VERBALLY
•TO ENSURE THE RECEIVER GETS THE INTENT OF THE
SENDER’S MESSAGE.

•TO CONVEY EMOTION
•TO ENSURE THE RECEIVER IS SENSITIVE TO THE
EMOTIONAL STATE OF THE SENDER.

WHY SHOULD WE PAY
ATTENTION TO THIS TYPE OF
NON-VERBAL EXPRESSION?
FROM THESE VOCAL QUALITIES WHICH ARE REFERRED TO AS PARALINGUISTIC
CUES, WE ARE ABLE TO FORM OPINIONS ABOUT