paralanguage
Sign in to saveAlso known as vocalics
Paralanguage, also known as vocalics, is a component of meta-communication that may modify meaning, give nuanced meaning, or convey emotion, by using suprasegmental techniques such as prosody, including pitch, volume, intonation, etc. It is sometimes defined as relating to nonphonemic properties only. Paralanguage may be expressed consciously or unconsciously.
~12 min read
Article
17 sectionsContents
- Aspects of the speech signal
- Perspectival aspects
- Organic aspects
- Expressive aspects
- Linguistic aspects
- Specific forms of paralinguistic respiration
- Gasps
- Sighs
- Moans and groans
- Throat clearing
- Mhm
- Huh?
- Physiology of paralinguistic comprehension
- fMRI studies
- See also
- References
- Further reading
Paralanguage, also known as vocalics, is a component of meta-communication that may modify meaning, give nuanced meaning, or convey emotion, by using suprasegmental techniques such as prosody, including pitch, volume, intonation, etc. It is sometimes defined as relating to nonphonemic properties only. Paralanguage may be expressed consciously or unconsciously.
The study of paralanguage is known as paralinguistics and was invented by George L. Trager in the 1950s, while he was working at the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State. His colleagues at the time included Henry Lee Smith, Charles F. Hockett (working with him on using descriptive linguistics as a model for paralanguage), Edward T. Hall developing proxemics, and Ray Birdwhistell developing kinesics. Trager published his conclusions in 1958, 1960 and 1961.