Introduction

Abstract

The ability to communicate readily with each other is one which most people accept without question. We assume that if we speak or write according to a set of linguistic rules we will be able to convey information and opinions to anyone who is familiar with those same rules. The mechanics of human communication — articulating sounds as speech, forming written words on a page, using a telephone — are, once mastered, handled subconsciously by most of us. Our principal concern in the communication process is with the translation of ideas into effective and meaningful statements; we take for granted the physical processes which are essential to human communication.