Communicative Silences: Forms and Functions

The nature of silence is discussed as an imposition of mind, as an interdependent signification ground for speech signs, as a relationship to mental time (as opposed to artificial time), and as it relates to sensation, perception and metaphorical movement. Three major forms of silence are defined: Psycholinguistic Silence, of which there are two subtypes, designated Fast-time silence and Slow-time silence; Interactive Silence; and Sociocultural Silence. The three major forms are then briefly described as they relate to some important human communication functions. In the absence of empirical evidence, a number of hypotheses are offered.