Sunday, August 27, 2006
My first class essay, please feel free to critique.
There are thousands of sublanguages within our common language of English. These sublanguages are spoken within our employment, social groups, interests, hobbies, religious affiliations and family circles. We all speak different sublanguages throughout the day. We speak one type of sublanguage with our friends, using inside jokes, and slang. We speak another at our place of work, using words that only pertain to our employment and co-workers who also speak and understand the work related sublanguage, and we may use another sublanguage during a club meeting, church service or at the family dinner table.
Though sublanguages are made up with English words, they are not always understood by all people. Within sublanguages, the meaning and use of the words are often different from the words we use in our common language. For example, within Catholic and Protestant church services, you may hear words and phrases such as: the blood of Christ; atonement; sacrificed lamb; rapture; second coming; and He is risen. If you are not apart of the church community or have a foundational understanding of the Protestant or Catholic religion, those words and phrases will have no meaning to you and will make little sense. Sometimes, words that are used within sublanguages don’t even really exist. Invented slang words like fo-shizzle, are found throughout slang-based sublanguages. There are also text-sublanguages within our culture. You see these text-style sublanguages within chat rooms and e-mails amongst friends. For the purpose of this dialog, we will only be discussing verbal sublanguages.
Though most Americans speak English, communication given is not always communication received. A few years ago, I entered the post-modern conversation. Initially, I didn’t understand what was being said. The articles and books I was reading made little sense to me and I grew frustrated with my lack of comperhension. There was words used on a regular basis that I was not familiar with such as: post-modernity; globalization; global-economy; Universalism; deconstruction; relativism; and absolutism. At first, this conversation was like a foreign language to me. I didn’t understand the meaning, or use of the words and it was difficult for me to follow and contribute to the conversation. It wasn’t until my friend, who knew the post-modern conversation sublanguage, began to explain what certain word and phrases meant in a language that I understood. It’s was then, after learning the sublanguage from my friend, that I was able to participate and contribute to the conversation.
If you want people to understand your thoughts and be able to contribute to the conversation, it important to remember that communication given is not always communication received. Effective speakers and writers understand this as an important concept. Those who do not understand what is being said often times grow disinterested, annoyed, and sometimes offended.
As our audience changes, it’s natural for our language to change as well. Therefore, it’s important to be aware of our audience, as our audience changes throughout the day.
When I am at work, or having a conversation with someone who is in the same line of work as me, I often speak a sublanguage that only those within my profession will understand. A typical work related conversation might sound like this:
So did you hear about that 211 last night?
Yeah, I was 10-76 to motor pool when the 211 call and BOL came over the radio.
The suspects are SSK’s out of Ivanhoe.
Or, it may sound something like this:
Visalia-1145.
1145-Visalia.
I’m 10-76 to 25 with 40-Paul at Orosi High School.
10-4.
For those who are unfamiliar with the ten-codes and California penal codes, the conversation just spoken will make no sense to them. What was actually communicated in the first conversation was:
So, did you hear about the arm-robbery last night?
Yeah, I was on my way to motor pool when dispatched called the arm-robbery over the radio and gave the be on the look out description of the suspect’s car.
The suspects are South Side Kings gang members from Ivanhoe.
The second conversation in common English communicated the following:
Visalia Dispatch, this is Probation Officer M. Wallace.
M. Wallace, this Visalia Dispatch.
I am on my way to meet with Sheriff Deputy E. Saldivar at Orosi High School. Understood.
Though my sublanguage communication to dispatch and other law enforcement personal maybe understood, it makes no sense at all to my wife and friends. Hence, the importance of knowing your audience. If I were to tell my wife that I was 10-76 to the store to buy some milk and that my ETA home is about 15 minutes, she would struggle with trying to understand what was just said to her. When you don’t take careful consideration of your audience, you risk the probability that they may not unstander your words.
If a tree in falls in the woods and there is no one there to hear it, did it make a noise? If someone speaks, yet no one understands what is being said, is the person even communicating? Or would it just be white noise, like that of an un-tuned radio?
Effective communicators are effective because they not only take the time to learn sublanguages, but are also conscience of their audience. With the knowledge of a variety of culture sublanguages and an awareness of their audiences, they communicate their thought in way through both common English and sublanguages that is clearly received. They tune into their audience.
There are thousands of sublanguages within our common language of English. These sublanguages are spoken within our employment, social groups, interests, hobbies, religious affiliations and family circles. We all speak different sublanguages throughout the day. We speak one type of sublanguage with our friends, using inside jokes, and slang. We speak another at our place of work, using words that only pertain to our employment and co-workers who also speak and understand the work related sublanguage, and we may use another sublanguage during a club meeting, church service or at the family dinner table.
Though sublanguages are made up with English words, they are not always understood by all people. Within sublanguages, the meaning and use of the words are often different from the words we use in our common language. For example, within Catholic and Protestant church services, you may hear words and phrases such as: the blood of Christ; atonement; sacrificed lamb; rapture; second coming; and He is risen. If you are not apart of the church community or have a foundational understanding of the Protestant or Catholic religion, those words and phrases will have no meaning to you and will make little sense. Sometimes, words that are used within sublanguages don’t even really exist. Invented slang words like fo-shizzle, are found throughout slang-based sublanguages. There are also text-sublanguages within our culture. You see these text-style sublanguages within chat rooms and e-mails amongst friends. For the purpose of this dialog, we will only be discussing verbal sublanguages.
Though most Americans speak English, communication given is not always communication received. A few years ago, I entered the post-modern conversation. Initially, I didn’t understand what was being said. The articles and books I was reading made little sense to me and I grew frustrated with my lack of comperhension. There was words used on a regular basis that I was not familiar with such as: post-modernity; globalization; global-economy; Universalism; deconstruction; relativism; and absolutism. At first, this conversation was like a foreign language to me. I didn’t understand the meaning, or use of the words and it was difficult for me to follow and contribute to the conversation. It wasn’t until my friend, who knew the post-modern conversation sublanguage, began to explain what certain word and phrases meant in a language that I understood. It’s was then, after learning the sublanguage from my friend, that I was able to participate and contribute to the conversation.
If you want people to understand your thoughts and be able to contribute to the conversation, it important to remember that communication given is not always communication received. Effective speakers and writers understand this as an important concept. Those who do not understand what is being said often times grow disinterested, annoyed, and sometimes offended.
As our audience changes, it’s natural for our language to change as well. Therefore, it’s important to be aware of our audience, as our audience changes throughout the day.
When I am at work, or having a conversation with someone who is in the same line of work as me, I often speak a sublanguage that only those within my profession will understand. A typical work related conversation might sound like this:
So did you hear about that 211 last night?
Yeah, I was 10-76 to motor pool when the 211 call and BOL came over the radio.
The suspects are SSK’s out of Ivanhoe.
Or, it may sound something like this:
Visalia-1145.
1145-Visalia.
I’m 10-76 to 25 with 40-Paul at Orosi High School.
10-4.
For those who are unfamiliar with the ten-codes and California penal codes, the conversation just spoken will make no sense to them. What was actually communicated in the first conversation was:
So, did you hear about the arm-robbery last night?
Yeah, I was on my way to motor pool when dispatched called the arm-robbery over the radio and gave the be on the look out description of the suspect’s car.
The suspects are South Side Kings gang members from Ivanhoe.
The second conversation in common English communicated the following:
Visalia Dispatch, this is Probation Officer M. Wallace.
M. Wallace, this Visalia Dispatch.
I am on my way to meet with Sheriff Deputy E. Saldivar at Orosi High School. Understood.
Though my sublanguage communication to dispatch and other law enforcement personal maybe understood, it makes no sense at all to my wife and friends. Hence, the importance of knowing your audience. If I were to tell my wife that I was 10-76 to the store to buy some milk and that my ETA home is about 15 minutes, she would struggle with trying to understand what was just said to her. When you don’t take careful consideration of your audience, you risk the probability that they may not unstander your words.
If a tree in falls in the woods and there is no one there to hear it, did it make a noise? If someone speaks, yet no one understands what is being said, is the person even communicating? Or would it just be white noise, like that of an un-tuned radio?
Effective communicators are effective because they not only take the time to learn sublanguages, but are also conscience of their audience. With the knowledge of a variety of culture sublanguages and an awareness of their audiences, they communicate their thought in way through both common English and sublanguages that is clearly received. They tune into their audience.
