ISSN : 2348 - 9715

International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research ISSUE : 1, May 2014

Nonverbal communication – Language within Language

Dr Alpesh B Joshi
MA (Linguistics), Ph D (Neurolinguistics)
[email protected]

ABSTRACT
The synergological corpus was not created from theoretical concepts, or, in other words, from
“what we think”, but rather from “what we see”. This is known as synergological praxis. Synergological
knowledge has developed within a continuous relationship between theory and practice. Systematic
interpretation of body language teaches us that what causes variation in the choice of the hand used is
the kind of information exchanged, which has absolutely nothing to do with being left- or right-
handed. Systematic observation of the face and body thus enables us to spot a number of false
beliefs. Synergology provides us the keys: the greatest value is that they can be used in a practical way.
And this is exactly what my paper tries to study.
Key Words : Visual Signs, Proxemics, Kinesics, Voice Variations, Haptics, Paralanguage

Nonverbal communication – Language within Language

Non verbal communication is communication that uses means other than words. It is many a
times spontanious and some times out side one’s control. While you can refuse to speak or write, you can
not avoid behaving non verbally.There is a vast range of visual and audio signs through which man has
been communicating since time immemorial. Non verbal signs can be divide in to two broad catagories.:
Visual and Audio .
Visual Signs: At many public places, we come across visual signs that intend to communicate a fixed
message to us. Signs which tell us not to park the vehicles , not to smoke, which guide us entry or exit, or
signs which tell us which way the roads are going do not use any words and yet their message get
across.Communication through visual signs is very effective because it is short and instantaneous.
Organizations use visual signs like posters, drawings, photographs, cartoons and statues to convey
messages for general information or educational purposes. Visual signs clarify points, improve
comprehension and aid retention. Apart from this signs visual communications also happens through
Kinesics or Body Language , proxemics or Space Language and Time Language.
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International Journal of Multidisciplinary
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May 2014

Kinesics: The term was first used (in 195

1952) by Ray Birdwhistell, an anthropologist who wish
wished to study
how people communicate through gh posture,
postu gesture, stance, and movement. Part off Birdwh
Birdwhistell's work
involved making film of people in social
socia situations and analyzing them to show w differe
different levels of
communication not clearly seen otherwise.
otherwis It is the science that studies the body language
language. The human
body is an interesting reflection to many of our thoughts and feelings. The blinkingg of our eyes, noding
our head, movement of our hands, s, as well
we as gestures and postures, are all associated
ted with our feelings
and thought processes.All these movements
moveme exhibit or communicate what is going on insid
inside our mind.
That is why we refer to them as body language.
lang A person, though s/he is nervous and anxi
anxious, says “ I
am fine”, we can easily understandnd from his body language that s/he is not fine.Psychologi
ychologists point out
that , by reading or interpreting the signa
signals sent out by our body, we can cope up with issues
issu in private
and public life before they becomee proble
problem.
Though all parts of the body are involved in the communication, Kinesics studies five
ve impor
important parts of
the body i.e., face,eyes, gestures,head,
,head, body
bo shape and posture.
Face: A person’s emotions, feelings,
ngs, state
stat of mind and even ideas reflect on his/her
/her face
face.Every facial
muscle moves in such a way that hat it co
communicates something to an understanding
nding mi
mind. See the
following figures,

Eyes:Our eyes also communicatee signific

significant information about the intention of the speaspeaker like our
face.Perticularly, “how some body saying“ can be understood by observing his/her
dy is sayin s/her ey
eyes. The eyes
along with the eyebrows, eyelids and the size
s of pupils communicate a lot about us.In n differen
different situations,
our eyes adopt different shapes and
nd positions.
posit That is why, we have evasive eyes, fixed
ed eyes, staring eyes
and smiling eyes, depending on our
ur feeling or attitude.View the following faces,

Heads: The position and movements ents of o

our heads also communicate significant messages
ssages . A head held
high is a sign of honour,self respect,
ct, confidence
confid and our interest in the person beforee us. A he
head bent low
shows modesty and politeness. Head jerks jer show rejection or agreement, whereass noding of the head
indicates that you are following the
he speak
speaker’s arguments.
 ISSN : 2348 - 9715
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research ISSUE : 1, May 2014

Gestures: Just ponder over the meaningful communication conveyed through gestures as given below,

• Pounding the fist on the table - Anger, disgust

• Raising the forefinger – No. 1

• A forefinger and thumb touching to form a circle – nice, beautiful, O.K.

Body Shape and Posture: Body shapes may be thin and tall, athletic and muscular or fat and round.
Normally we can not do much about our bodies but we can try to make the best possible impression with
whatever kind of body we have. In businesss situation, we must take care that our body does not
communicate wrong signals. Leaning forward or backward, standing or sitting errect, stretching or
bending sideways, all these make an immidiate impression on the other person’s mind.
Surroundings: Our surroundings communicate with their own non-verbal language. The two important
aspect of our physical context like, colour, layout, design etc. can be considered to understand the kind of
non-verbal message they can convey.
Colours are associated with different behaviours, patterns, attitudes and cultural background .
Some colours are universally associated with happiness, cheerfulness or pleasant circumstances. Pink,
blue and green are gay colours. Black is associated with negative feelings. White is used to denote peace
and charity.
Layout and Design: The furniture, design and the space arrangement in an office conveys a meaning. That
is why special care is taken to do up the interior design of offices with the help of highly trained
designers. We can take an example of the classrooms for kids in school.
Paralanguage: nonverbal cues of the voice
Paralanguage (sometimes called vocalics) is the study of nonverbal cues of the voice. Various
acoustic properties of speech such as tone, pitch and accent, collectively known as prosody, can all give
off nonverbal cues. Paralanguage may change the meaning of words.
The linguist George L. Trager developed a classification system which consists of the voice set, voice
qualities, and vocalization.

• The voice set is the context in which the speaker is speaking. This can include the situation,
gender, mood, age and a person's culture.

• The voice qualities are volume, pitch, tempo, rhythm, articulation, resonance, nasality, and
accent. They give each individual a unique "voice print".

• Vocalization consists of three subsections: characterizers, qualifiers and segregates.

Characterizers are emotions expressed while speaking, such as laughing, crying, and yawning. A
voice qualifier is the style of delivering a message - for example, yelling "Hey stop that!", as
opposed to whispering "Hey stop that". Vocal segregates such as "uh-huh" notify the speaker that
the listener is listening.
However a speaker normally uses a vast range of vocal cues like:
Pitch variation: Pitch denotes the depth or weight of a person’s voice. All of us introduce wide variations
in speech while speaking. This is done to catch the listener’s attention and keep him/her interested in us.

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 ISSN : 2348 - 9715
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research ISSUE : 1, May 2014

Speaking at length on the same peach makes speech monotonous or boring. By observing other’s speech
we can improve upon our peach variation.
Speaking Speed: Speaking fast is not fluency. As a general rule, we should present the easy part of a
message at a brisk pace because it can be understood easily. Whereas the difficult, complicated and
highly technical parts of information should be conveyed at a slower pace. A similar adjustment in speed
must be done viewing the audience. For an audience of children unfamiliar with the subject spoken, one
would deliberately keep the speed moderate or low, while speaking on the same subject to body of
experts, one should keep the speed moderately high.
Pause: In speech, it is not only the presence of sound which communicates meaning; its absence also
conveys meaning and effect. A pause can be highly effective in emphasizing the upcoming subject and in
gaining the listener’s attention. However too frequent pauses spoil one’s speech.
Non Fluencies: It refers to small utterances like ah-oh-OK-you know-um-etc. that punctuate our speech
occasionally. It gives the speaker breathing time and audience time to think over what has been said.
Word Stress: Proper word Stress is very important in conveying the meaning of statement in
communication. A stress on a word here or there can change the sense of the sentence.
Proxemics:
It studies signals generating from the space around us in communication. It involves the study of
how we communicate with the space around us. So, it can also be referred to as space language. It
involves studying not only the messages we send by managing space between ourselves and others but
also the messages we send by managing space in a room or in an office. Space in nonverbal
communication may be divided in to four different categories (intimate, social, personal, and public
space.) as show below in the figure.
 ISSN : 2348 - 9715
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research ISSUE : 1, May 2014

Silence:
Silence as well as paralinguistic tools also serve important communicative functions. Imagine two
strangers talking to each other sink in silence for a few moments. The message is very clear- there is an
unbridgeable communication gap between the two. A teacher enters the class and the students fall silent
or a manager enters the office and the employees fall silent – it shows the respect or even fear. Most
skillful orators highlight the part of their speech by preceding or succeeding it with silence.
Haptics : Touching in communication :
Haptics is the study of touching as nonverbal communication. Touches that can be defined as
communication include handshakes, holding hands, kissing (cheek, lips, hand), back slapping, high fives, a
pat on the shoulder, and brushing an arm. Touching of oneself may include licking, picking, holding, and
scratching. These behaviors are referred to as "adapter" or "tells" and may send messages that reveal the
intentions or feelings of a communicator. The meaning conveyed from touch is highly dependent upon
the context of the situation, the relationship between communicators, and the manner of touch.
Audio Signs: Since the beginning of civilization, sound signals have been used to send messages and the
modern world has not given up all of them. There are various kinds of alarms like fire alarm, accident
alarm, air raid or machine breakdown alarms. The main idea in each of these cases is to convey a message
of caution or otherwise to the listener. Apart from these, sound also helps up interpret an individual’s
vocal characteristics which we study in paralanguage and,of course, we also communicate through the
absence of sound or silence.
Works Cited
1. Raymond M Olderman, 10 Minute Guide to Business Communication (New York: Simon &
Schuster, 1997)
2. Philip C Kolin, Successful Writing at Work, 6th Edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001)
3. Michael H Mescon, Courtland L Bovee, and John V Thill, Business Today, 9th Edition (Upper Saddle
River, N J: Prentice Hall 1999)
4. Lillian H Chaney and Jeanette S Martin, Intercultural Business Communications (Upper Saddle
River, N J: Prentice Hall 1999)
5. Stephen P Robbins, Essentials of Organizational Behavior, 6th Edition (Upper Saddle River, N J:
Prentice Hall 1998)
6. B Aubrey Fisher, Small Group Decision Making: Communication and the Group Process, 2nd
Edition (New York: McGraw Hill, 1980)
7. William P Galle, Jr., Beverly H Nelson, Donna W Luse, and Maurice F Villere, Business
Communication: A Technology-Based Approach (Chicago: Irwin, 1996)
8. Kristen Bell De Tienne, Guide to Electronic Communication (Upper Saddle River, N J: Prentice Hall
2001)

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