SAVI builds on a major theory in communication that suggests all verbal statements are composed of two elements- person and topic. Consider the following:
Example 1: SAVI stands for Systematic Analysis of Verbal Interaction.
Example 2: I use SAVI at work every day.
Intuitively if asked to decide on one or the other, a person can identify the first as a predominantly 'topic' oriented statement and the second as predominantly a 'person' oriented statement.
'Person' statements are those that reveal something about the individual who is speaking. When the speaker uses a 'person' statement, the listener learns something about how that person operates in the world.
'Topic' sentences include everything else, including when a speaker talks about another person. Following are two examples that further demonstrate this distinction:
Example 3: I never trust people like him.
Example 4: He's always looking out for himself.
SAVI would define example three as a statement that reveals how the speaker operates (a 'person' statement), while the next would be defined as a 'topic' sentence. Even though example four is about a person, it is about another individual other than the speaker, which places it in the 'topic' category.
Notice that the introductory information states that all verbal statements are composed of two elements. That is, all verbal statements contain BOTH 'topic' and 'person' elements. However, if we return to the first two examples, identifying both 'topic' and 'person' elements in the second example is much easier than determining that both exist in the first.
Example 1: SAVI stands for System for Analyzing Verbal Interaction.
Example 2: I use SAVI at work every day.
The second example has clearly identifiable 'topic' elements: SAVI; work; day. Yet it also clearly fits the definition of a 'person' dominated statement in that the listener learns about how the person operates at his or her workplace. So, while both 'topic' and 'person' elements can be identified, the 'person' element emerges as dominant.
How can that same analysis work with our first example? The first example is clearly a statement that is 'topic' dominated. If we accept the premise that all verbal statements are composed of 'topic' and 'person' elements, the 'person' element associated with the first example isn't immediately apparent.
This is where the 'verbal' piece of Systematic Analysis of Verbal Interaction helps us out. In a 'topic' dominated statement, the 'person' element is determined by tone of voice. Try saying the first example in the following two ways:
A: You are answering a question asked by someone you've just met.
B: You are correcting someone who always gets the acronym mixed up (and who, by the way, you think is a total idiot!)
And there you have the 'person' element in a 'topic' dominated statement.
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