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Phonetics and Phonology of Speaking Styles: Reduction and Elaboration in Speech CommunicationBarcelona, Catalonia, Spain |
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Phonetics and Phonology of Speaking Styles: Reduction and Elaboration in Speech CommunicationBarcelona, Catalonia, Spain |
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Contemporary linguistics cannot go on to disregard the fact that the sound speech, especially the impulsive, unprepared one, is accompanied with nonverbal means* (i.e. movements of face mimic organs - forehead, eyebrows, eye-lids, mouth, cheeks, nose, look; body position, gestures of arms of hands, of legs, of head, gesticulation in general, movement of the whole body: melody, intonation, pauses uring the speech, etc.) The opinion of Charles Darwin's and other researchers who claimed that the nonverbal means are proper only to primitive groups and uneducated members of the human community, cannot be longer fully accepted. It is true that the nonverbal means represent a quite natural attribute or a company or a partial substitution of the sound speech and even of the soliloquy of any individual speaker. Those means enable to make the sound speech more accurate and to make unambiguous the transmitted information on the one hand, and to help the addressee in comprehension of the information on the other hand.
The reasons mentioned above have caused that new considerations dealing with the nonverbal means function in the sound speech communication are raising in the contemporary linguistic literature. Those means attribute the communication and make it more accurate, they can "speak" though not being a verbal communication, one can use them not only to speak but also to make oneself understood. The non-language elements (nonverbal means, as we call them) communication Has been only mentioned or stated in the linguistic literature until now. This problematic has been studied and appraised by psychologists, first of all, by sociologists, doctors and scientists of other branches.
Nevertheless, the appearance and functions of the nonverbal means should be interesting for linguists especially, because those means have the same function in the men's communication as the verbal means have. The function is to enable social communication and understanding followed by comprehension among people.
The fact that the speech as a mean of cpmmunication can be realised in two ways - in a sound form and in a written form - and the nonverbal means can be used in situations appropriate for the sound speech, causes the lack of the linguists' attention paid to the nonverbaf means communication.
The nonverbal means can be effectuated in a direct contact of the subjects of communication or when the proper communication is transmitted via various technical means and facilities. In the latter case, the participants of communication can or cannot see each other.
When writing or reading, the language information got through printed words or phrases must be sufficient for us. The author of trie monologue does not know the addressee and he knows he cannot expect any direct reaction in a form of reply to his text. He is conscious about uselessness of repetition of the information in other words, another explanation, to make the intended information more complete, the way that is usual by the sound speech form. Thus he builds his information in a way specific for the written form. Even this form of information can be accepted with imaginary or sound words reaction form the of addressee, though the author cannot see him and does not know him. The addressee's reaction can be agreeing or discordant, can express surprise or any other opinion and can be accompanied with the nonverbal means, too.
As has already been written above, the nonverbal means can accom- pany or substitute the sound speech. It is possible for case of tete-a-tete communication (the interaction of the communicants is realized at a certain place and in a certain time) and also for case of partial communication (the information from a speaker to an addressee is transmitted via any sound transmission facility - i.e. radio, telephone, etc. - or via any facility transmitting sound and picture - f.e. television). The nonverbal means of communication of a different range and intensity according to the characters of the communicants and the type of communication can be applied here.
Bibliographic reference. Schulzová, Olga (1991): "The speech reduction under the influence of nonverbal factors", In PPoSpSt-1991, paper 048.