The Realm of Unexpressed Meanings

The world of unexpressed information that an utterance carries along with it is called background information, which is also referred to as common knowledge or common ground, as it is assumed to be shared by the interlocutors. Besides, as such assumptions involve recursive and mutual embeddings (I know that you know that I know, etc.), the term mutual knowledge is also often used.

Sometimes, while communicating with each other in an implicit manner, people still manage to understand one another. This is possible due to this very background information, which is considered to be shared both by the speaker and the hearer.

Verschueren (1999) states that, whatever term is used, the implicit meaning it covers is not a fixed entity, but can be shaped and reshaped in the course of linguistic action and interaction. In fact, the impossibility of full explicitness and the need to explain diverse aspects of general background information to achieve a full understanding of any instance of language use are really pervasive and challenging processes.

Iceberg Theory

In fact, succinct words, distinct images, plentiful emotion, and profound thought are the four fundamental elements of iceberg theory for further study—that is, the words and images are the so-called “1/8” while the emotion and thought are the so-called “7/8.” The formers are specific and visual, while the latter are implied in the former. The words portray the images; the emotion is embodied in the images; the thought is embodied in the emotion.

The same is true when speaking about spoken language: The words portray the images; our emotions are embodied in the images; our inner thoughts are embodied in those emotions. Hence, it becomes obvious that the role of our mental role has, indeed, a great and let us say even irreplaceable role in the decoding process, particularly when dealing with expressive speech acts.

Hemingway once said, “If it is any use to know it, I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There are seven-eights of it underwater for every part that shows. Anything you know you can eliminate and it only strengthens your iceberg. It is the part that doesn’t show. If a writer omits something because he does not know it then there is a hole in the story.” (Hemingway, 1963: 182).

The “iceberg theory” might be applied in a number of diverse disciplines to demonstrate that nothing is superficial and that there are lots of other factors that are not so explicitly obvious just from the first sights; they are actually hidden beneath the surface. Moreover, they have a great impact on all those processes that occur on the surface.

The cognitive elements help us to evaluate the situation and the decoded information in a rational manner depending on certain social, physical, emotional, and psychical extralinguistic factors, whereas the emotive elements remind us about some formerly experienced emotions or feelings and, consequently, have a positive or negative impact on the decoding process.

In the interpretation process, the interlocutors are being influenced by a great number of factors that are not easily visible. In fact, besides mere utterances, a lot of other inner factors take part in the communication processes, which are hidden in the seven-eights of the “iceberg.” Therefore, we should, indeed, be skillful communicators not to be misled by our previous emotional experiences in order not to misunderstand what we are being told. Thence, our background emotional knowledge is no less important in processing, interpreting, and comprehending this or that piece of information at hand, since far too much of what happens in the process of communicative interaction occurs on the emotional level.

Conclusion

To conclude, as it can be made clear from the given remarks, background knowledge is a complex phenomenon that comprises our physical, social, and mental worlds. Our mental world that is being activated in language comprises both rational and emotive elements. Those elements tend to intermingle with each other and, as a result, altogether influence the interpretation process.