paralinguistic

[par-uh-ling-gwis-tik]

adjective

1. of or relating to paralanguage or paralinguistics.

Word History and Origins

Origin of paralinguistic¹

First recorded in 1955–60; para- ¹ + linguistic

Example Sentences

Melodies, though essential, act as vehicles to such paralinguistic production.

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Tone indicators are paralinguistic signifiers used at the ends of statements to help readers fill in the blanks.

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These “paralinguistic cues,” as they are known, can include pitch, volume, or how fast or slow someone speaks.

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The authors set out to test two distinct possibilities for how paralinguistic aspects of speech might influence persuasion: confidence and detectability.

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For detectability, the idea was that paralinguistic cues might instead be effective when they aren’t obvious and thus avoid people’s awareness of efforts to persuade them.

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