slideshow

1. The Use of Language and it’s Different
Rules/Interpretations

2. Language is symbol driven
Each word we use in language
Is constituted with its own object/idea
Link to video that compares humans and
primates using symbols and how complexity has
grown over time:
http://humanorigins.si.edu/human-
characteristics/language

3. Denotative Meaning
• The actual meaning of a word as it defined in
the dictionary
• Ex. Mom which would be your biological
mother who actually gave birth to you

4. Connotative Meaning
• The different ideas or concepts surrounding a
word
• While a connotative meaning of mom could
be the woman who raised you, doesn’t have
to be of kin to you but still cared for/raised
you

5. Denotative +
Connotative = The
Semantic Triangle
Video describing the
triangle
https://www.youtub
e.com/watch?v=eVXJ
8V-dH-A

6. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
• Co-created by Edward Sapir and Benjamin
Whorf
• Is the theory that an individual's thoughts and actions are
determined by the language or languages that individual
speaks; based off 2 principles:
• Based off (1) lingusitic determinism, which says how we
think is formed from our grasp of whatever language we
speak
• And (2) linguistic relativism , which states we percieve
reality based off the language we speak

7. Hayawaka’s Ladder
of Abstraction
oThe bottom rung
represents the most
abstract
oHigher up you go the
more concrete things
become
oGood way to
determine how
specific you can get

8. The Rise of New Abbrievations
• New way of communicating has been created
due to the prominence of social networks and
online connection
• Examples include OMG (oh my God), HML (hit
my line/call me), WYD (what are you doing?),
SMH (shaking my head/showing disdain)
• Also the creation of “emojis”, emoticon
symbols that started in Japan and have been
put on iPhone/Android devices

9. Emojis
•http://www.theverge.
com/2013/3/4/39661
40/how-emoji-
conquered-the-world
•Have completely
changed the way
people interact via
text
•Ability to convey
many more emotions

10. Works Cited
• “How emoji conquered the world”. Jeff Blagdon. March 4, 2013.
http://www.theverge.com/2013/3/4/3966140/how-emoji-conquered-
the-world
• The Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis. The Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy. 2014.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/relativism/supplement2.html
• Human Characteristics: Language & Symbols. Smithsonian Institution.
2014. http://humanorigins.si.edu/human-characteristics/language
• Communication Matters. Kory Floyd. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. New
York, NY.
• The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. The Institute for Language Information and
Technology at Indiana University. http://linguistlist.org/ask-
ling/sapir.cfm#what