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Language and discourse are interconnected, as language shapes discourse and culture gives meaning to language. Language control is a tool for acquiring power over others, and culture largely dictates the interpretation of language. Gender also impacts language and speech, and linguistics is a challenging field due to the constantly evolving nature of language and meaning.
Language and discourse are related at a basic level in that all discourse is constructed with language. Language manipulation affects how people interact and respond. Language and discourse are fluid, however, because they both shape and define the culture in which they are present. It is culture that provides much of the meaning to the language that occurs within discourse.
Language contains clues about what should come next in a speech. For example, if someone says “hello,” that person generally expects the other person to say “hello” as well. At the very least, the first person wants an acknowledgment that they have spoken, which the second person might give with a nod or other gesture. In this way, language controls part of the direction of speech.
A fundamental principle underlying language and speech is that because language controls the direction of speech to a large extent, people who learn to control speech also learn to manipulate speech. This is known as discourse management. By formulating a question in a very specific way, for example, one person might force another person to respond in a particular way or even stop talking altogether. Language control is therefore a tool for acquiring and exercising power over others.
An important connection between language and speech is that culture largely dictates the interpretation of language. For example, if someone comes from a very religious Christian background, they might consider it disrespectful if someone who isn’t religious uses the phrase “my God” nonchalantly. This can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts, hindering the discussion and subsequent relationship building. Normally, evidence of cultural beliefs that guide language and discourse is present elsewhere in a person’s life.
Culture is constantly evolving and, consequently, so is language. What is appropriate speech in one moment may not be appropriate in another moment. One example is the use of words and phrases such as “bloat” or “it’s the bee’s knees,” which were popular in the 1950s but have fallen out of use. Based on the current interpretation of these words and phrases, one person might view another person who has used them in speech as old-fashioned or outdated.
Gender also has a huge impact on language and speech. For example, in some cultures, women are viewed as second-class citizens or the weaker sex. In these cultures, it is sometimes considered very impolite for a woman to enter a conversation without a man’s invitation. In other cultures, a greater effort is made to create gender equality through language and thus encourage different rules of discourse engagement, such as the integration of gender-neutral pronouns.
The connections between language and discourse mean that one cannot delve into language without also studying discourse. The study of these areas, in turn, requires an understanding of cultural contexts. That’s why linguistics is such a challenging field: meaning is not constant. Linguists are constantly trying to figure out exactly how language fits and regulates the rules of speech.
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