Meaning, Image and Attitude (II)
Meaning, Image and Attitude (II)

Summary/Abstract: With every word the speaker utters, with every gesture he makes, he conveys not only a meaning, but also an image of himself and an attitude. To get access to higher social strata, the speaker improves his language and paralanguage. The rise in society of Eliza Doolittle (after A.J. Lerner’s “My Fair Lady”) demonstrates that a speaker of modest social origin may gain access into the highest social circles by putting on “the right clothes”: good pronunciation, an elegant outfit and civilized manners. On the other hand, speakers often exploit their language and paralanguage so as to convey a certain image and attitude. The analysis of a Catherine Tate sketch (see Classic Comic Relief, on www.youtube.com) shows that the speaker can convey a lot of meaning and attitude by strategically manipulating his linguistic and non-linguistic repertoire.

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