Silence

Silence is the absence of ambient audible sound, the emission of sounds of such low intensity that they do not draw attention to themselves, or the state of having ceased to produce sounds; this latter sense can be extended to apply to the cessation or absence of any form of communication, whether through speech or other medium.Sometimes speakers fall silent when they hesitate in searching for a word, or interrupt themselves before correcting themselves. Discourse analysis shows that people use brief silences to mark the boundaries of prosodic units, in turn-taking, or as reactive tokens, e.g., as a sign of displeasure, disagreement, embarrassment, desire to think, confusion, and the like. Relatively prolonged intervals of silence can be used in rituals; in some religious disciplines, people maintain silence for protracted periods, or even for the rest of their lives, as an ascetic means of spiritual transformation. == Silence as a rhetorical practice == Silence may become an effective rhetorical practice when people choose to be silent for a specific purpose. It has not merely been recognized as a theory but also as a phenomenon with practical advantages. Rhetorical silence cannot be explained since it happens when lack of communication is not expected. When silence becomes rhetorical, it is intentional since it reflects a meaning. Rhetorical silence targets audience rather than the rhetorician. One of those advantages of silence is to achieve various types of rhetorical and literacy practices. There are always some meanings, intentions, and goals that cannot be expressed linguistically in words and there are always voices that cannot be raised through sounds, rather they are all reflected through silence.