CHAPTER 4: LANGUAGE

v Language is a system of symbols for thinking and communicating.

v Language is a tool we have been using to understand and develop our thinking. We
have been:
• Learning about the thinking of others by reading
• Expressing our own thinking through writing
• Exchanging ideas with others by speaking and listening
v Thought and language can contribute to clear, effective thinking and communication.
 Language as a Tool

Language is a powerful tool:

§ To Clarify Thinking
§ For Social Communication
§ To Influence People
 Clarify Thinking

v Language represents your thoughts, feelings, and experiences symbolically

“I know what I want to say, but I just can’t find the right words.”

The relationship between thinking and language is interactive; both processes

are continuously influencing each other in many ways

Clear and precise language leads to clear and precise thinking.

 Clarify Thinking

v Clear Language v Clear Thinking

§ Specific § Specific
§ Distinct § Distinct
§ Precise § Precise
§ Accurate § Accurate
 Clarify Thinking

v Vague language using words that are very imprecise and general.
v Vague words are words that lack a clear and distinct meaning.
v A word (or group of words) is vague when its meaning is fuzzy, blurry, or inexact.
v Examples:
• I had a nice time yesterday
• That is an interesting book
• She is an old person
• She is a beautiful girl
 Clarify Thinking

v Words are vague if they have fuzzy or inexact boundaries and hence give rise to
unclear borderline cases.
v • Words are over general if the information they provide is too broad and
unspecific in a given context.
v Examples:
Peter: John, What is seven plus five
John: More than two
 Clarify Thinking

v Vague language using words that are very imprecise and general.
v Vague words are words that lack a clear and distinct meaning.
v A word (or group of words) is vague when its meaning is fuzzy, blurry, or inexact.
v Examples:
• I had a nice time yesterday
• That is an interesting book
• She is an old person
• She is a beautiful girl
 The Need for Precision
vWithout precision, one cannot be correctly understood.
vLack of understanding or misunderstanding hinders discussion, dialogue, and debate.
vIn fact, misunderstandings are quite often the causes of disagreements.
vFor example: suppose that both you and I know that Bob committed a certain crime and
that his trial has not occurred yet. I might say:
(1) Bob is guilty
Now: (1) can mean two things:
(a) He committed the crime.
(b) He has been convicted of the crime.
• If I mean (a), but you think I mean (b) we will say we disagree about whether (1) is true,
when in fact we share the same beliefs (we both think he did it and know that he hasn't
been convicted yet). But not until I clarify what I mean by (1) will this fact become
evident.
• But when you can't be understood, it is not the other person's fault. If others can't
understand you, you need to be more precise
 Ways to be un-precise

v Vagueness
Borderline cases
v Overgenerality
Too general; too many things fit the description of the answer and thus
the answer is not useful.
v Ambiguity
A word is ambiguous when it has more than one common definition.
 Ways to be un-precise

v Vagueness
Borderline cases
v Overgenerality
Too general; too many things fit the description of the answer and thus
the answer is not useful.
v Ambiguity
A word is ambiguous when it has more than one common definition.
 Vagueness
v A word (or group of words) is vague when its meaning is inexact.
v Usually you can tell a word is vague when there are borderline cases.
minimal pay, middle-aged, indecent, obscene, etc.
v In each of these cases, there are clear cut cases (20 is not middle aged,
and neither is 80, but 45 is), but there are examples where it is unclear
(like 33 or 56).
v In some venues it is appropriate, but usually try to avoid it, especially in
argumentation.
 Overgenerality
v An overgenerality is a statement that provides too much information to
be useful (in a given context).
v They will not be vague (i.e., they won't give rise to borderline cases),
but will not be useful.
v Example of a overgeneral answer:
v Q: "What is 7+5?" A: "More than 2."
v Context is relevant:
Dean of students: What were you drinking at this keg party?
Freshman: A beverage.
Mother: Where are you going?
Teenager: Out.
Mother: When will you be back?
Teenager: Later..
 Ambiguity
v A word or expression is ambiguous if it has two or more meanings and
the context does not make clear which meaning is intended.
v Semantic Ambiguities: Ambiguities that result from uncertainty about
the meanings of an individual word or phrase
v Ex: Joe went to the bank.(What kind of bank? Financial Institution? A
slope that boarders a river? A blood bank?)
v Syntactical Ambiguities: ambiguity due to sentence structure or faulty
grammar.
v Ex: "Dog for sale. Eats anything and is especially fond of children.
 Ambiguity
v Ambiguous language -also interfere with the clear expression of
thoughts. An ambiguous word is a word with more than one (1) meaning
that is open to different interpretations.
v A word or expression is ambiguous if it has two or more distinct
meanings and the context does not make clear which meaning is
intended.
v Examples: Sometimes words have two meanings
v She went to the bank.
v The duck is ready to eat
v Flying planes can be dangerous.
 Ambiguity
v A word or expression is ambiguous if it has two or more meanings and
the context does not make clear which meaning is intended.
v Semantic Ambiguities: Ambiguities that result from uncertainty about
the meanings of an individual word or phrase
v Ex: Joe went to the bank.(What kind of bank? Financial Institution? A
slope that boarders a river? A blood bank?)
v Syntactical Ambiguities: ambiguity due to sentence structure or faulty
grammar.
v Ex: "Dog for sale. Eats anything and is especially fond of children.
 Types of definitions

v Stipulative definitions: create a new words orused an old word in an

entirely new way..
 v Persuasive definitions

v Persuasive definitions: arguer defines a term in an effort to persuade a

reader or listener to agree with the arguer’s point of view regarding the
thing being defined.
 Lexical Definitions

v Lexical Definitions: a word is defined in the way itis standardly used in

the language.
v The purpose of a lexical definition is to state the conventional, dictionary
meaning of a word definitions: create a new words orused an old word in
an entirely new way.
 Precising definitions

v A precising definition is intended to make a vague word more precise so

that the word’s meaning is not left to the interpretation of the reader or
listener.
v EX: “A heavy smoker”, for purposes of this clinical trial, is anyone who
smokes more than twenty-four cigarettes per day.
 Strategies for defining

v Ostensive Definitions: Simply pointing to, ordemonstrating, the thing

being defined.
v Enumerative Definitions: providing specificexamples of what the word
refers to.
Ex: football player: means
v Definitions by Subclass: A definition by assigns ameaning to a word by
listing subclasses of the general class to which the word refers.
Ex: Mammal means gorilla, horse, lion, whale, andso forth.
 Strategies for defining

v Etymological definitions: tell what part of speech a word is, how it is

commonly pronounced, and whence it came.
v (Etymology = ancestry).
Ex: Automobile
v Auto: from Greek, means “self”
v Mobile: from French, means “move”
 Strategies for defining

v Synonymous Definitions: assigns a meaning to a word by offering a

synonym – that is, another word that has approximately the same mean
in gas the word being defined.
v Definition by Genus and Difference: assigns a meaning to a word by
identifying a general class(genus) to which things named by the word
belong and then specifying a differentiating quality (difference) that
distinguishes those things from all other things in the class.
v Ex: buck means male deer
v Calf means young cow
 Rules for constructing good lexical definitions

v Don’t make the definition too broad or too narrow.

Ex: A definition of automobile as “ a vehicle with four wheels” : too broad
Ex: A definition of sibling as “ brother” : too narrow.
v Convey the essential meaning of the words being defined.
Ex: horse: the animal ridden by Napoleon during the battle of Waterloo:
poor definition
 Rules for constructing good lexical definitions

v Provide a context for ambiguous words.

v Avoid slanted definitions (biases, emotionally charged definitions)
v Avoid figurative definitions.
v Avoid needlessly obscure definitions ( include a lot of big words or
technique jargon that readers aren’t likely to understand).
v Avoid circular definitions.
 Rules for constructing good lexical definitions

v The important of precise definitions

v A convincing argument often depends on the clear and accurate
definition of language.
v The failure to define terms carefully can result in a messy battle with
some participants struggling to find the truth and others fighting to avoid
it.
 Rules for constructing good lexical definitions

v The important of precise definitions

v A convincing argument often depends on the clear and accurate
definition of language.
v The failure to define terms carefully can result in a messy battle with
some participants struggling to find the truth and others fighting to avoid
it.
 Social Communication

v Language is always used in context.

v We should use the language style that is appropriateto the social situation.
v Language styles vary from informal to formal.
v Language styles –used in a context:
§ You always speak with a person in mind, according to the situation.
§ You may converse differently with friends, colleagues, parents and
relatives.
 Social Communication

v The ability to think critically gives you the insight and the intellectual
ability to:
v Distinguish people’s language use from their individual qualities.
v Correct inaccurate beliefs about people.
v Avoid stereotypical responses.
 Influence People
v The intimate relationship between language and thinking makes it
natural that people use language toinfluence the thinking of others.
v Two types of language are often used to promote theuncritical
acceptance of viewpoints:
v Euphemistic language
v Emotive Language to think critically gives you the insight and the
intellectual ability to:
v Distinguish people’s language use from their individual qualities.
v Correct inaccurate beliefs about people.
v Avoid stereotypical responses.
By developing insight into these language strategies, you will
strengthen your abilities to function as a critical thinker.
 Influence People

v Emotive Language -Language that wouldprobably stimulate certain

feelings in you.
v Language that evokes feelings in others.
- The emotional dimension of language.
v Example: What is your immediate reaction to the following words:
v Ronaldo
v Freedom
v Terrorist
v Peaceful
v Democracy
 Influence People
v Emotive language often plays a double role – it not only symbolizes and
expresses our feelings but also arouses or evokes feelings in others (E.g.
“ I Love You!”.
v The presence of emotive words is usually a sign that a personal opinion
or evaluation rather than a fact is being stated.
v Emotive language usage can be misleading and even dangerous when
speakers do not identify their opinions as opinions because they want
you to treat their judgments as facts.
 Social Test for Emotive Language

v The ability to critically gives you the insight and the intellectual ability
to:
v Distinguish people’s language use from their individual qualities.
v Correct inaccurate beliefs about people.
v Avoid stereotypical responses.
 Influence People

v Euphemistic language -to speak with good words and involves

substituting a more pleasant way of saying something instead of a blunt
way.
v Examples: To disguise the unpleasantness of death, we could say:
§ ‘She passed away’
§ ‘She departed this life’
Exercises
Textbook