ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the nature of silence in an imposition of mind, as an interdependent signification ground for speech signs, as a relationship to mental 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. A major misconception preventing intellectual focus on silence is the common, basic assumption that silence is completely other than speech, its foreign opposite, its antagonist. Psycholinguistic silences are necessary and variable impositions of slow-time on the temporal sequence of speech. These impositions appear to be created by both encoders and decoders of speech.
