The term "unsaid" refers what is not explicitly stated, what is hidden and/or implied in the speech of an individual or a group of people. The unsaid may be the product of intimidation; of a mulling over of thought; or of bafflement in the face of the inexpressible.

Linguistics

Sociolinguistics points out that in normal communication what is left unsaid is as important as what is actually said—that we expect our auditors regularly to fill in the

social context The social environment, social context, sociocultural context or milieu refers to the immediate physical and social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops. It includes the culture that the individual was educated ...

/ norms of our conversations as we proceed. Basil Bernstein saw one difference between the restricted code and the elaborated code of speech is that more would be left implicit in the former than the latter.

Ethnology

ethnology Ethnology (from the , meaning 'nation') is an academic field and discipline that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology). Sci ...

, ethnomethodology established a strong link between unsaid and ''axiomatic''. Harold Garfinkel, following Durkheim, stressed that in any given situation, even a legally binding contract, the terms of agreement rest upon the 90% of unspoken assumptions that underlie the visible (spoken) tip of the interactive iceberg. Edward T. Hall argued that much cross-cultural miscommunication stemmed from neglect of the silent, unspoken, but differing cultural patterns that each participant unconsciously took for granted.

Psychoanalysis

Luce Irigaray has emphasised the importance of listening to the unsaid dimension of discourse in psychoanalytic practice—something which may shed light on the unconscious phantasies of the person being analysed. Other psychotherapies have also emphasised the importance of the non-verbal component of the patient's communication, sometimes privileging this over the verbal content. Behind all such thinking stands Freud's dictum: "no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips...at every pore".

Cultural examples

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

is said to have owed his success to his attention to the unsaid in his client's communications. *In '' Small World'', the heroine cheekily excuses her lack of note-taking to a Sorbonne professor by saying: "it is not what you say that impresses me most, it is what you are silent about: ideas, morality, love, death, things...''Vos silences profonds''". David Lodge, ''Small World'' (1985) p. 265

References

External links

* {{Nonverbal communication Human communication Nonverbal communication Sociolinguistics Ethnology Psychotherapy