The Language of Lovers, Flovers, and Friends: Communicating in Social and Personal Relationships

Abstract

In this paper language and social relationships are viewed as theoretical entities with mutual entailments. Several types of relationships are conceptualised and the various levels of language are related to these. Language is discussed as an independent variable which affects interpersonal bonding and as a dependent variable which is affected by relational processes. Several issues are raised, includ ing : Can persons talk about relationships with precision? Is language a funda mental constituent of most relationships? And, does communication play a primary role in relationship formation, maintenance, and decay? A general model is offered and theoretical implications are discussed.