Components of Paralanguage and Metamessage

 Paralanguage 

Paralanguage is the vocal component of speech. For example, Pitch, resonance, articulation, tempo, volume and rhythm. Through paralanguage, you betray your moods and attitudes.

 

Components of Paralanguage 

1. Pitch
2. Resonance
3. Articulation 
4. Tempo 
5. Volume 
6. Rhythm 

Components of Paralanguage 

Pitch :

As you tighten your vocal cords, you raise the pitch of your voice. Intense feelings of joy, fear or anger make your voice go up. When you are depressed, sad, tired or calm, the muscles of your vocal cord relax. The pitch of your voice goes down.

Resonance :

Resonance refer to the richness or thinkness of your voice. A man with heavy vocal cords and largest chest is likely to have a deep and full voice.  A woman with tight and thin vocal cards would have a thin and high voice.  With some practice, you can control both pitch and resonance as a singers and public speakers regularly do.

Articulation : 

 Different levels of articulation are appropriate in different situations. A strong articulation increase the level of comfort and intimacy. A weak articulation increases the level of discomfort.

Tempo :

The tempo or speed at which words are spoken reflects emotions and attitudes. Fast talkers convey excitement and can be expressive and persuasive. Speaking to fast, however can make the listener nervous. A slow, hesitant speaker may give an impression of laziness.                                    For example, people from New York city speak more rapidly. 

Volume :

 On the positive side, loud volume is usually associated with enthusiasm and confidence.   On the negative side, it may be associated with aggressiveness.                                           A person of higher status may raise the volume of his voice. Soft voice indicate lack of confidence, a feeling of inferiority or a sense that the message is unimportant.

Rhythm :

Rhythm determines which words will be emphasized in a sentence. In the question  "what time is it?"  the emphasis is normally on the words  "time". Important words are always given  a stress to convey specific meanings. 

Meta message :

Many statements have two level of meaning one meaning. One meaning  is the basic information being communicated by series words.  The second level, or  meta-message communicates the speaker's attitudes and feelings. The meta-message is the largely communicated by rhythm,  pitch and verbal modifiers.   

                 For example, consider the sentence " You are late to night ". If the word " late" is emphasized with slightly rising inflection, the sentence communicate  surprise.

If the word " you are " is emphasized the metamessage is irritation. 

verbal modifier a special words that add nuances  (difference)  of meaning to sentence. The following is the list of ward often used to modify verbs.