Interpersonal Communication- A Mindful Approach to Relationships, 2020a

information with other people. We commonly think of communication as talking, but it is much broader
than just speech. Other characteristics of voice communicate messages, and we communicate, as well,
with eyes, facial expressions, hand gestures, body position, and movement. Let us examine some basic
principles about how we communicate with one another.
Have you ever noticed that we can hear or look at something like the word “cat” and immediately
know what those three letters mean? From the moment you enter grade school, you are taught how to
recognize sequences of letters that form words that help us understand the world. With these words, we
can create sentences, paragraphs, and books like this one. The letters used to create the word “cat” and
then the word itself is what communication scholars call symbols. A is a mark, object, or sign that
represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention.
Let’s think about one of the most important words commonly tossed around, love. The four letters
that make of the word “l,” “o,” “v,” and “e,” are visual symbols that, when combined, form the word
“love,” which is a symbol associated with intense regard or liking. For example, I can “love” chocolate.
However, the same four-letter word has other meanings attached to it as well. For example, “love” can
represent a deeply intimate relationship or a romantic/sexual attachment. In the first case, we could
love our parents/guardians and friends, but in the second case, we experience love as a factor of a deep
romantic/sexual relationship. So these are just three associations we have with the same symbol, love.
In Figure 1.2, we see American Sign Language (ASL) letters for the word “love.” In this case, the hands
themselves represent symbols for English letters, which is an agreed upon convention of users of ASL to
represent “love.”
Figure 1.2 Child Using ASL to Sign Love
“love.” By David Pacey. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Unported license.
Symbols can also be visual representations of ideas and concepts. For example, look at the symbols
in Figure 1.3 of various social media icons. In this image, you see symbols for a range of different social
media sites, including Facebook (lowercase “f”), Twitter (the bird), Snap Chat (the ghost image), and
many others. Admittedly, the icon for YouTube uses its name.
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Interpersonal Communication