The study of vocalics or paralanguage deals with the non-verbal qualities of speech. These qualities include pitch, amplitude, rate, and voice quality. Linguists argue that the way in which a person says something often means more than the actual words being spoken. Paralanguage instantaneously conveys information such as gender, education, origin, mood, and our relationship with the person being spoken to. In our spoken language, only 7% of the total message is relayed through the spoken word, while 38% of the message is conveyed through paralanguage. Imagine answering a phone call from someone. If they are a close friend or family member, you can usually tell who it is without having them identify themselves. If it is a stranger on the other end, you can pick up certain things about who they are, such as sex, age, educational level, origin, and social class just by their tonal qualities of their voice.

Interpreting Paralanguage

1. Emphasizing syllables. The way you say something can completely change the meaning of a sentence depending on what word you are emphasizing. Just think when the snotty kid tells you,