Words, like eyelashes, blur everything that they do not make more clear. -Joseph Jourbert (pg 107)
Word Barriers:
- When talking to other people we always assume they know exactly what we mean. In doing so we create word barriers.
- Word barriers are a miscommunication of words or actions where the conversation or communication stops due to confusion of meaning.
- Due the the fact that we can make words mean whatever we want, just like with the triangle of meaning, we must share our meanings with others so they can understand what we are trying to communicate.
Meanings Are Both Denotative and Connotative:
- When communicating with language we know the meanings of the words we use. I it extremely important however, to keep in mind that the person or persons we are communicating with do not know the meanings of those words. Thus we must choose the types of words carefully. Two types of words are denotative and connotative meaning. We use denotative meaning in conversations that are extremely factual such as scientific, law, or mathematical. We use connotative meaning when we are sharing personal experience, ideas based on personal events, and meaning based on ones ideas based on emotion
- Denotative Meaning- dictionary meaning, objective or descriptive meaning of a word.
- Connotative Meaning- subjective meaning of a word, ones personal meaning of a word.
Meaning and Time
- Meaning of words change over time. In the words that were once socially not acceptable and words you just never said, change meaning over time. For example over time the word "gay" which used to mean merry or happy, has changed meanings and now means homosexual. Virus is not just an illness of the human body but a system that can travel through your computer and take down its programs. Because of the change in technology, social standards and media, words over time will always change meanings because of the environment we create.
Meaning and Place
- Words mean different things depending on where you are. Sometimes its cultural and sometimes its global. These differences are mostly based on location and the environment that has been created over time. For example up north we call a water fountain a bubbler, but down south its a water fountain. We have soda, the west has pop, and the south has cola. They are all the same thing but in each place they have a different name but still the same denotative meaning.
Meaning and Experience-
- We assign meanings to words based on personal experience. For example, we may call an omelet an oversized egg because as a kid when your mom made omelets she used bigger eggs for them. These words are based on connotative meaning.
Whether Language is Concrete or Abstract Influences Meaning
- In language, we tend to use abstract words to influence what we are saying to avoid confrontations. We do this becuase if we use concrete language to convey meaning our response may have consequences. For example, if your sister just got her hair cut and you know she loves it. If she asks you what you think you can use a concrete meaning you may say, " No its absolutely terrible, the layers are not even, and the color is too dark for your skin tone." This may not only hurt your sisters feeling but it may stop her from asking your opinion in the future. An abstract answer would be, I know you like it alot, and its a different look for you. By being abstract with your answer it changes the meaning of what you wanted to say and plays the situation safe.
