Symbolic communication

[1] Symbolic communication includes gestures, body language and facial expressions, as well as vocal moans that can indicate what an individual wants without having to speak.

In this linear process, the sender (source) transmits a message or signal to the receiver, which ultimately will end up going to its destination.

[3] The Shannon and Weaver model sets a precedent for symbolic communication, using semantics to create a basis for language.

[4] Del Hawkins, a doctoral student from the University of Texas, proposed a model of communication that depicts how symbols, if responded to by an individual, can be used as a conversation.

(See Organizational Theory) Once a symbol is known in a society, it is habitual for an individual to respond to it exactly like how they would previously.

Not only auditory speech, words, and characters in printed visual forms, physical objects, fashion and clothing, human individuals, and events can be classified as symbols.

[6] The origin of symbolic communication remains a controversial open problem, obscured by the lack of a fossil record.

However, it has been speculated that 1.9 million years ago, Homo erectus began the use of pantomime to communicate which allowed our ancestors to transmit information and experiences.

These mirror neurons are also known to be activated when “symbolic” representations of actions such as mime, speech and reading are experienced.

This allowed our ancestral primates to learn and transmit basic forms of symbolic representations to communicate.

Written communication first emerged through the use of pictograms which slowly developed standardized and simplified forms.

Saussure introduced the notion of there being no inherent relation between the use of cow in English and vache in French to signify the same mental concept of a bovine grass feeder.

[15] The arbitrary link between the word, both written and spoken, makes this communication symbolic in nature, as opposed to indexical.

Sign language makes use of a combination of hand gestures, facial expressions, and body postures.

Likes and Favorites are among the actions considered PDAs, as they contribute to feelings of social support even without the implicit meaning associated with them.

[22] Young children also use symbolic communication as a means to reference objects or understand other people around them.

These children may already understand basic symbols like head-nodding for "yes" or head shaking for "no" from watching their parents or others around them.

Understanding what may cause offense is a key to international or even domestic travel or diplomacy when interacting with people not of one's immediate cultural settings.

Paralinguistic cues such as gestures, intonation and facial expressions can aid in cross-cultural communication as they tend to be more similar to each other than words are.

In 2019, Pichayapa Natha, a member of pop star group BNK48, was slammed for wearing a swastika t-shirt during a rehearsal for a concert.