id you know that...
01There are between 6000 and 7000 languages in the world - spoken by six billion people divided into 189 independent states.
02There are about 225 indigenous languages in Europe - roughly 3% of the world’s total.
03Most of the world’s languages are spoken in Asia and Africa.
04At least half of the world’s population are bilingual or plurilingual, i.e. they speak two or more languages.
05In their daily lives Europeans increasingly come across foreign languages. There is a need to generate a greater interest in languages among European citizens.
06Many languages have 50,000 words or more, but individual speakers normally know and use only a fraction of the total vocabulary: in everyday conversation people use the same few hundred words.
07Languages are constantly in contact with each other and affect each other in many ways: English borrowed words and expressions from many other languages in the past, European languages are now borrowing many words from English.
08In its first year a baby utters a wide range of vocal sounds; at around one year the first understandable words are uttered; at around three years complex sentences are formed; at five years a child possesses several thousand words.
09The mother tongue is usually the language one knows best and uses most. But there can be “perfect bilinguals” who speak two languages equally well. Normally, however, bilinguals display no perfect balance between their two languages.
10Bilingualism brings with it many benefits: it makes the learning of additional languages easier, enhances the thinking process and fosters contacts with other people and their cultures.
11Bilingualism and plurilingualism entail economic advantages, too: jobs are more easily available to those who speak several languages, and multilingual companies have a better competitive edge than monolingual ones.
12Languages are related to each other like the members of a family. Most European languages belong to the large Indo-European family.
13Most European languages belong to three broad groups: Germanic, Romance and Slavic.
14The Germanic family of languages includes Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic, German, Dutch, English and Yiddish, among others.
15The Romance languages include Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian, among others.
16The Slavic languages include Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Slovenian, Serbian, Croatian, Macedonian, Bulgarian and others.
17Most European languages use the Latin alphabet. Some Slavic languages use the Cyrillic alphabet. Greek, Armenian, Georgian and Yiddish have their own alphabet.
18Most countries in Europe have a number of regional or minority languages – some of these have obtained official status.
19The non-European languages most widely used on European territory are Arabic, Chinese and Hindi, each with its own writing system.
20Russia (148 million inhabitants) has by far the highest number of languages spoken on its territory: from 130 to 200 depending on the criteria.
21Due to the influx of migrants and refugees, Europe has become largely multilingual. In London alone some 300 languages are spoken (Arabic, Turkish, Kurdish, Berber,
Much of the communication that takes place between people is verbal; that is, it is based on language.
␣Verbal communication of the vocal category includes spoken language.
␣ Nonvocal verbal communication involves written communication as well as communication that is transmitted through transmitted through sign language, finger spelling, Braille, or other similar alternatives to verbal language.
Communication has been called the transfer of meaning from one mind to another. Communication is a sharing of meaning through the transmission of information via mutually understood signs.
Because meanings exist in the human mind, they cannot be shared or communicated except through some external vehicle. The human body is capable of making sounds and movements which in turn can create a system of vehicles for sharing inner meanings and ideas with others. In general terms, such elements that codify meaning are called signs. The study of such signs is called semiotics.
While verbal communication is much studied and is the focus of much applied attention in areas ranging from journalism to governance to entertainment, the fact is that human beings communicate more through nonverbal means. Some estimates are that so-called body language accounts for 65, 70, even 90 percent of human communication. Using the 70-percent figure for body language, the voice accounts for another 20 percent or so, and specific words only about 10 percent. Research conclusions may vary a bit, but the consensus is clear: Nonverbal communication is hugely important in human interaction.
Nonverbal communication also is bound to culture. In particular, there are differences among cultures and nationalities about the relative value of speech versus silence, the relative value of talk versus action, the social role of small talk or gossip, and the role of animation, rhyme and exaggeration in speech. Because of these differences, the study of verbal and nonverbal communication always must be done within a social or cultural context.
As noted above, nonverbal communication may be vocal (focusing on vocal characteristics such as pitch, rate, and so on) or nonvocal (focusing on body language, environment, attire and the like).
Some linguists identify an aspect of nonverbal communication called paralanguage. This refers to a range of nonlinguistic elements of speech, such as facial expressions, gestures, the use of time and space, and so on. However, most linguists adhere to stricter categorization. Commonly, the study of nonverbal communication is divided into several specific categories.
␣ Kinesics (simplistically called body language) deals with physical movement, sometimes called affective displays. This study applies traditional linguistic principles to the body as a whole or to specific parts, particularly the face, hands and arms. It also deals with posture in standing and sitting, as well as with eye and facial expressions, such as the arching of eyebrows or rolling of the eyes. Kinesics vary culturally. For example, a person of Mediterranean culture may use extensive hand movements and body gestures as an expression of anger, whereas a Japanese person may be apparently less excited, but perhaps no less angry. Kinesics also includes the use of smiling, frowning, giggling and so on, which also differs by culture. While universally, smiling reveals happiness, in some cultures it also is used to mask sadness or to hide embarrassment.
Kinesics generally refers not to sign language that relies on gestures and expressions in a grammatical context as an alternative to spoken language. But it is associated with the use of emblems, physical gestures that support or reinforce what is said verbally. Some emblems seem to be universal, while others are cultural, with different interpretations in various cultures, or perhaps with different uses by men and women. An example of a universal emblem is the uplifted shoulders and upturned hands that indicate “I don’t know” virtually everywhere in the world. An example of a culture-bound emblem is the encircled thumb and forefinger. That gesture can be interpreted as worthless in France, money in Japan, OK in the United States, a curse in Arab cultures, and an obscenity in Germany, Brazil and Australia.
␣ Occulesics is closely related to kinesics. Occulesics deals with eye behavior as an element of communication. Some aspects of occulesics deal with a static or fixed gaze versus dynamic eye movement. This so-called eye contact is the subject of much interpretation by the observer, making it difficult to predict its exact communication impact. In the West, direct eye contact (looking into the eyes of the other person) is common about 40 percent of the time while talking and 70 percent while listening. In Japan, it is more common to look at the throat of the other person. In China and Indonesia, the practice is to lower the eyes because direct eye contact is considered bad manners, and in Hispanic culture direct eye contact is a form of challenge and disrespect. In Arab culture, it is common for both speakers and listeners to look directly into each others’ eyes for long periods of time, indicating keen interest in the conversation. In Mediterranean society, men often look at women for long periods of time that may be interpreted as starring by women from other cultures. Even the same kinesic gesture can be interpreted differently. For example, the facial gesture of downcast eyes during conversation can suggest social deference, evasion, insincerity or boredom.
␣ Proxemics involves the social use of space in a communication situation. One aspect of this is the closeness between and among people when they speak, and the significant role that culture plays in this. Distance is generally described on a continuum from intimate space (0-18 inches) to personal space or informal distance (18 inches to 4 feet) to social space or formal distance (4- 12 feet), and public space or distance (beyond 12 feet). Proxemics also deals with the effective use of space in social settings, such as businesses and homes, ranging and the arrangement of space to encourage or inhibit communication.
␣ Haptics focuses on touching as an element of communication, indicating both the type of touch as well as its frequency and intensity. Like many other elements of nonverbal communication, haptics is very much a function of culture. It has been noted, for example, that Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Latin American cultures employ much social touching in conversation, including embraces and hand-holding; these are called high-contact (or high-touch) cultures. In moderate-touch cultures such as North America and Northern Europe, touching is used only occasionally, such as in handshakes and sporadic shoulder touching or back slapping. In low- contact cultures such as in Northern Asian cultures, meanwhile, social touching is rarely used at all. But the geography is by no means that simple. People in the Asian nation of the Philippines, for example, use a large amount of social touching in conversation and personal interaction. Even within a culture, haptics vary. For example, handshakes vary in length and strength of grip depending on the actual (or hoped for) degree of intimacy between the two people shaking hands.
␣ Vocalics (also called paralanguage) deals with vocal cues, more accurately referred to as the nonphonemic qualities of language. These include accent, loudness, tempo, pitch, cadence, rate of speech, nasality and tone, insofar as these convey meaning. Vocalics is sometimes subdivided
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into several categories. Vocal characterizers include laughing, crying, yawning, and so on. These can be associated with culture, such as the different ways various cultures accept the practice of belching. Vocal qualifiers such as volume, pitch, rhythm and tempo also are associated with cultural distinctions. In Arab culture, for example, speaking loudly connotes sincerity, whereas in North America it often is interpreted as aggressive. Vocal segregates (sounds such as mmmm, uh-huh, oooo) likewise also differ among various cultures. Vocal rate deals with the speed at which people talk, another factor that offers various interpretations.
␣ Chronemics deals with the use of time as an element of communication. Formal time is measured in minutes, hours, days, and so on. Informal time is measured relative to seasons, social customs, lunar cycles, etc. Chronemics involves specifics such as punctuality (which can be monochronic or M-time and polychronic or P-time) along with patterns of dominance or deference within a communication situations. For example, studies show that men are more likely than women to dominate a conversation and interrupt another speaker. Chronemics also deals with time from the standpoint of social settings, such as the likelihood among Americans of arriving early for business meetings but being “fashionably late” for social activities, while in Latin American and Arab culture, business people often arrive at a time Westerns would consider “late,” taking business meetings as occasions for hospitality and socializing. Meanwhile, the Sioux language doesn’t even have a word for “late,” reflecting a very relaxed attitude toward time. Chronemics also considers the use of monochronemics (doing one thing at a time, emphasis on schedules and promptness, getting to the point quickly) versus polychronemics (doing several things at a time, emphasis on people and the whole of a relationship). Studies show that the monochronemic conversation (talking about one thing at a time) is common in Northern Europe and North America. Meanwhile, Latin American, Asian, Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cultures are more likely to use polychronemic conversation (multiple conversations at the same time, and frequent interruption by other speaker-listeners).
␣ Appearance deals with the communication role played by a person’s look or physical appearance (as compared with physical gestures associated with kinesics). It deals with physical aspects of body shape, hair color and skin tone, as well as grooming, dress (both clothing and jewelry) and use of appearance enhancements such as body piercings, brandings and tattoos. Consider, for example, how attire is an essential part of nonvocal communication among areas influenced by Arab culture. Among North and Western Africans, public speakers prefer long robes and big sleeves so that when they raise their hands, extra sleeve cloth slips through the arms and puffs up their shoulder, making them look bigger and more elegant. The Arab and North African head covering with different bands of cloth and the color of the robes (white in daytime, dark at night) are more than fashion statements.
␣ Environment involves the communicative value of the physical space, such as room size, color, accessibility and location. Business people, for example, assume significant meaning about desk size, offices with (or without) windows, and so on. Generally it is assumed that the most important people in a company occupy the uppermost floor in a building.
␣ Artifacts similarly deals with the communicative aspect of apparent objects visible in the room – art, possessions and so on – in that these may be personal, indicative of status, and/or revealing of lifestyle. In some societies, much meaning is presumed by one’s choice of automobile. Artifacts almost always have cultural significance. For example, in many Western countries, pets have great emotional significance; among many Arabs, rugs are prestigious.
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␣ Olfactics is an aspect of nonverbal communication dealing with smells. Though not widely studied from a communication perspective, olfactics might include the use of perfumes and spices. It is associated with proxemics in that, the closer people are in communication, the more likely that the smell will be relevant. In some high-contact cultures such as Samoan or Arab, it is customary to get close enough in conversation to smell the other person. Indeed, Arabs and religious Muslims are known for using perfumes, according to the teaching the Prophet that it is a charity to smell nice for others.
␣ Synchrony focuses on the amount of coordination in people’s behavior when their nonverbal cues are in sync with one another. Some examples include mirroring, mimicry, or behavioral meshing.
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Language Facts
Language Facts
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