Anthropology

Nonverbal Communication

Communicating without words

Types of human communication

 Humans communicate in many ways

 Verbal communication is one form, which includes

speech and sign languages

 Nonverbal communication incorporates a wide range

of other ways in which we communicate

 Many different approaches for categorizing and

describing nonverbal communication

Burling (2005: 46): Varieties of Human

Communication

Visible Audible

Emotional/

Graded Nonverbal

A: Mammalian Gesture-call System

B:

Paralinguistic

Gesticulation Intonation,

Tone of voice

Referentiala/

Discrete

C: Quotable Quotable

Gestures

Quotable

Vocalizations

Verbal D: Linguistic Sign

Language

Spoken

Language

Category D (blue) represents verbal communication. All the other

types of communication listed are nonverbal. We will discuss

each of these categories in this PowerPoint.

a: Referential means the ability to refer to things in the outside world, rather than just revealing internal

states.

A: Mammalian: Gesture Calls

 One type of nonverbal communication Burling refers

to as Mammalian, or Gesture Calls

 These are signals that are shared by all humans,

such as laughing, smiling, scowling and sobbing.

 These resemble animal calls in that they are innate,

not learned, and found across the species.

 We could identify the meanings of these forms of

communication across different cultures, although

there may be different cultural rules governing when

these gesture calls may be used.

A: Mammalian: Gesture Calls

 Gesture calls can be either visual or auditory, and

often combine both a visual and an auditory

component.

 For example, in the photograph below, we have no

auditory input, but from the visual form, we know that

there would be accompanying sounds.

Gesture calls vs. language

 Gesture calls differ from language in a number of

other ways. How would you fill out this table,

comparing language with gesture calls?

Property Gesture Calls Language

Under our

voluntary control?

Graded or

discrete?

Good for

expressing

emotion?

Displacement?

Referential? (i.e.

can refer to things

in the outside

world)

Gesture calls vs. language

 Did your answers look like this?

Property Gesture Calls Language

Under our

voluntary control?

Not easily

controlled

More easily

controlled

Graded or

discrete?

More graded More discrete

Good for

expressing

emotion?

Shows emotions

clearly

Emotions can be

hidden

Displacement? No (expresses

immediate state)

Yes

Can refer to things

in the outside

world? (referential)

No (reveals the

internal state of the

sender)

Yes (e.g. we can

refer to things such

as “the squirrel in

the yard”)

B: Paralanguage (Burling)

Visible Audible

Emotional/

Graded Nonverbal

A: Mammalian Gesture-call System

B:

Paralinguistic

Gesticulation Intonation,

Tone of voice

Referentiala/

Discrete

C: Quotable Quotable

Gestures

Quotable

Vocalizations

Verbal D: Linguistic Sign

Language

Spoken

Language

a: Referential means the ability to refer to things in the outside world, rather than just revealing internal

states.

B: Paralanguage

 “Paralanguage” = “alongside language”

 Includes aspects of speech such as voice quality,

volume, intonation, speed, or pitch, which may carry

meaning.

 rapid speech = excited or nervous

 monotone = boredom

 What meanings would whispering, “whiny voice” or

yelling carry?

Paralanguage: Meanings of voice quality

 Voice quality can also affect our perception of a

person’s character.

 Pittam (1987) looked at perceptions of voice quality

by Australians, using recorded speech. One finding

was that Australians judged female speakers with

breathy voices to be young, feminine, good looking,

and sensitive.

Paralanguage: Cross-cultural variation in

volume

 Americans tend to speak more loudly than Britons

and New Zealanders. Ottenheimer (2013: 73-4)

claims that Britons may interpret American loudness

as anger, while Americans may be frustrated by the

quietness of Britons, and consider them secretive.

 When I visited New Zealand with my children when

they were younger, many adults looked

disapprovingly at them, because they thought they

were too rowdy!

Paralanguage: Cross-cultural variation in

Intonation

 Rising intonation can also have different meanings

across different cultural groups.

 In New Zealand, a rising intonation indicates

politeness, as it shows that you are not being too

assertive. For example, if you asked where the

library was, and I told you it was “just round the

corner”, I would probably use rising intonation in my

response. British visitors to New Zealand were often

confused by that, thinking the rising intonation

indicated uncertainty. To New Zealanders, British

falling intonation sounded rude.

Paralanguage (?): Gesticulation

 Burling also includes gesticulation in the category of paralanguage.

 Gesticulation refers to the kinds of hand waving we commonly do while speaking.

 Gesticulation may reinforce or emphasize what we are saying. You can see examples of gesticulation in the photographs to the right.

 Note that we often gesticulate even while on the telephone, when our audience cannot see our hands, suggesting it is not totally under our conscious control!

C: Quotable Gestures and Vocalizations

Visible Audible

Emotional/

Graded Nonverbal

A: Mammalian Gesture-call System

B:

Paralinguistic

Gesticulation Intonation,

Tone of voice

Referentiala/

Discrete

C: Quotable Quotable

Gestures

Quotable

Vocalizations

Verbal D: Linguistic Sign

Language

Spoken

Language

a: Referential means the ability to refer to things in the outside world, rather than just revealing internal

states.

C: “Quotable”

 Burling’s third category of nonverbal communication

includes what he terms “quotable” gestures and

vocalizations.

 These “quotable” forms are almost like words, as

they have clear meanings, and are culture specific.

Quotable Gestures = Emblems

 Quotable gestures, or emblems, are meaningful

signs, such as nodding your head, or giving a V for

victory sign.

 What is the meaning of the following quotable gestures or

emblems?

 Shaking your head

 Shrugging your shoulders

 Pointing to yourself while raising your eyebrows.

 Thumbs up.

 Rowe and Levine (p. 268) estimate that Americans

know about a hundred hand and body signals of this

type. Think about how many you know.

Emblems: Cross-cultural

miscommunication

 The “thumbs up” emblem used with a positive

meaning in the US has an obscene meaning in some

countries, including Iran. (Ottenheimer 2013, 142)

 The “V” for victory sign, if given with the palm facing

the body, has an obscene meaning in the UK, New

Zealand and Australia – equivalent to giving

someone the finger in the US.

What message is this man sending?

We need to know the cultural context

to interpret it.

Optional: Bret and Jemaine learn to “flip the

bird”

 The comedy “Flight of the Conchords” was about two

New Zealander artists struggling to survive in New

York. (One of my favorite shows!)

 As (naïve) New Zealanders, they are unfamiliar the

American hand gesture (emblem) “flipping the bird”.

In this clip, their American friend Dave teaches them

how to do it.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH4ysqvp7nc

Quotable vocalizations

 Similar to emblems, but made vocally, are what Burling calls “Quotable Vocalizations”. These are also called “vocal segregates” or “vocal gestures”.

 These are vocalizations with clear distinct meanings, but which we would not consider words. The “tsk” sound we make to express disapproval is an example of this type. These can be difficult to spell out as they sometimes use sounds which are not normally part of the language.

 What meanings are conveyed in English by the following quotable vocalizations?  “uh-oh”

 “hmmm”

 “uh-uh”

 “shhhh”

Other aspects of nonverbal communication

 Your textbook covers other areas of nonverbal

communication, including:

 Kinesics

 Eye contact

 Physical appearance

 Haptics (touch)

 Proxemics

 Environment

Silence

 Silence is another form of nonverbal communication. Its meaning can vary dramatically according to the situation.

 Within American society, silence in certain formal situations, such as ceremonies, indicates respect. However, in many interpersonal situations, silence is generally viewed negatively, and conversation (“small talk”) is expected.

 The next slide shows the different kinds of adjectives which are used to describe “silence” vs. “conversation” in the US. These are taken from a large database of American usage and are ranked by frequency. The adjectives describing silence are generally negative in tone.

Adjectives which precede “silence” vs.

“conversation”

Cross-cultural variation

 In mainstream American culture, silence is more

acceptable among people who are intimate, while

small talk is expected with those we do not know

well.

 In other cultures, such as Northern Athabaskan

(Scollon and Scollon) and Western Apache (Basso),

the norms are different. Silence, rather than small

talk, is expected in situations where the parties

involved do not know each other well.

Importance of nonverbal communication

 How important are nonverbal elements in

communication?

 One commonly cited factoid is that 93% of all

communication is nonverbal. This is obviously not

true.

 Online education would be virtually impossible if that

were the case!

 The statistic is based on a misinterpretation of a

psychological study done at UCLA. See

http://ubiquity.acm.org/article.cfm?id=2043156 for

more information.

How important is nonverbal

communication?

 However, nonverbal elements are important for transmitting emotional information. A plausible statistic is that 90% of emotional information is transmitted nonverbally. (Haviland et al. (2010:174-175)

 For example, in the photo to the right, the teacher is communicating interest in her students and her topic nonverbally through her smile, eye contact and gesture.

 However, the academic content of her class will be mostly communicated verbally.

Want to know more?

 Optional:

http://anthro.palomar.edu/language/language_6.htm

References  Basso, Keith. (1992) “To Give up on Words: Silence in Western Apache

Culture.” From: Western Apache Language and Culture: Essays in Linguistic Anthropology, Pages 80 – 98. University of Arizona Press.

 Bonvillain, Nancy. 2000. Language, Culture, and Communication: The Meaning of Messages. Fifth edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

 Burling, R. (2005) “Smiles, Winks and Words.” From The Talking Ape: How Language Evolved, Oxford University Press.

 Haviland, William A., Harald E. L. Prins, Dana Walrath, and Bunny McBride

(2010) The Essence of Anthropology, 2nd edition. Wadsworth, Belmont, CA.

 Ottenheimer, Harriet. (2013) The Anthropology of Language: An Introduction

to Linguistic Anthropology. Thomson, Wadsworth.

 Pittam, Jeffery. (1987) Listeners’ evaluations of voice quality in Australian English speakers. Language and Speech 30: 99–113.

 Scollon, Ron and Suzanne, (1981) “Athabaskan-English Interethnic Communication”, Chapter 2 in Narrative, Literacy and Face in Interethnic Communication, pp. 11-37.

 Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA): http://www.americancorpus.org/