English 306A; Harris Language & Meaning Humans’ accommodations for language Some...

English 306A; Harris

Language & Meaning

Humans’ accommodations for languageSome characteristics of languageSome aspects of meaning

We’re mammals

Distinctive traits include• Lactation• Mammalian “isolation cry”• Neoteny• Middle ear• Larynx

We have special larynxes

Functions• Controls airflow

• Phonates

We have special larynxes

Functions• Controls airflow • Phonates

(Glottis)

Glottis

Glottis• Air flow• Phonation

Glottis

Glottis• Air flow• Phonation

Larynx, tongue, Heimlich

Apes, australopithecus, babies• Tongue rooted in mouth• Larynx behind mouth• Can breathe and swallow at

the same time

Adult homo erecti +• Tongue rooted in throat• Larynx in throat• Cannot breathe and

swallow at the same time

Lower tongue root + larynx =

• Consonants and vowels(big flappy lips help too)

• Syllables• Patterns of rhythm and

modulation

Lower tongue root + larynx =

Speech

Oh, and one more thing

A brain

Motor cortex

Language areas

Auditory cortex

Language properties

Mutability ParityUniversalityTacitnessDisplacementProductivity (creativity)

Mutability

Languages change.

cool neat groovy far-out radical cool

Parity

All languages are equal.

Universality

All grammars share some basic properties.

•Words• Nouns• Verbs

•Sentences • Assertions• Questions

•Semantic roles• Agents• Patients• Locations

Tacitness

A great deal of grammatical knowledge is tacit knowledge.

[p] vs [ph] vs [p¬]

Displacement

Messages can refer to things remote in time and space, or both, from the site of the communication.

Elements + combinatorics

At every level• Sounds combine into syllables

and morphemes• Morphemes combine into

words• Words combine into phrases

and sentences• Sentences combine into

turns or paragraphs• Turns combine into

conversations• Paragraphs combine into texts

Elements + combinatorics =

Productivity (creativity)• New vocables• New words• New sentences• New meanings

Elements + combinatorics =

Language

Everything has meaning.

Everything is a sign.

Types of signs

IndexicalA mode defined by relationship of necessity (especially cause and effect). Prototypically, think fever.

IconicA mode defined by relationship of resemblance. Prototypically, think picture.

SymbolicA mode defined by relationship of arbitrariness, convention, and learning. Prototypically, think word.

Dimensions of signs

IndexicalityA semiotic tendency defined by relationship of necessity (esp. cause and effect).

IconicityA semiotic tendency defined by relationship of resemblance.

SymbolicityA semiotic tendency defined by relationship of arbitrariness, convention, and learning.

Index-to-icon-to-symbol migration theories

Pooh-pooh, Yo-he-hoIndex-to-icon-to-symbol

Bow-wowIndex-to-icon-to-symbol

Bow-wow-pooh-pooh-yo-he-ho theories

Metaphor and metonymy

Indirect representationSomething (called the vehicle) carries the primary signification for something else (tenor) that ordinarily holds that signification.

Metaphor is iconicThe vehicle/tenor relationship is an asserted resemblance: the tenor is said to be like the vehicle in some way.

Metonymy is indexicalThe vehicle/tenor relationship is (not exactly necessary but) drawn from the same habitat: the tenor is related to the vehicle in some way.

Metonymy, metaphor

to go tyson to go ballistic

REPRESENTATIVE

COMPARATIVE

Metonymy—The principle of set membership

One element of a set or a relationship (the vehicle) singled out to represent other element(s) (the tenor)

• Hollywood loves westerns.• Toronto collapses!• Calgary wins in OT!• All hands on deck.• Thirty head of cattle.

Metaphor—The principle of comparison

One element (the vehicle) represents another element (the tenor), to which it is unrelated.

• My love is red, red rose.• Homer is a pig.• Toronto is toast.• The table leg is broken.• The orthopedic wing is closed.• Fire kills thousands every year.

(Personification)

“Pussy”

Metaphor• Tenor = vagina• Vehicle = cat• Attributes

• Warm• Furry•

“Pussy!” Stage 1

Metonymy (synecdoche)

• Tenor = woman• Vehicle = pussy-as-

vagina

The ultimate devaluing of a (category of a) person: to a small anatomical component.

“Pussy!” Stage 2

Metaphor• Tenor = the insult target• Vehicle = woman (not

vagina)• Attributes

• Weak• Soft• Quitter

• Means ‘Opposite of a man’, but in a wholly evaluative way.

“Pussy”

Metaphor Metonymy Metaphor

Indexicality, Iconicity• a relatively mundane

example of ordinary language

• not a fancy literary or rhetorical device

• these processes, and figuration generally, are pervasive

We now return you to regular programming

Metonymy, metaphor

to go tyson to go ballistic

Associa

Simila

ComparisonRepresentationThe picture is metaphoric; the expression isn’t

Conceptual metaphors

TIME IS MONEYspend a day, invest three months, bank your overtime, cost me a weekend, …

ARGUMENT IS WARhe attacked my point, I defended it well, she shot me down, I blew her out of the water, …

ANGER IS HEATyou make my blood boil, I was steamed, he has a fiery temper, she's a hothead, …

Conceptual Metonymy

PRODUCER FOR PRODUCTI only read Dr. Seuss, she wore Calvin Klein last night, the Wolf Blass has too much tannin, …

CONTAINER FOR CONTAINEDthat’s a tasty dish, the needle was the death of her, he drank the whole bottle, …

PERSON FOR INSTRUMENTI’m parked out back, she’s the lead guitar, he’s the drill press, …

PLACE FOR PEOPLEBC voted conservative, Alberta likes cowboy movies, Thunder Bay is surprisingly liberal, …

PLACE FOR INSTITUTIONOttawa raised our taxes again, Queen’s Park changed the speed limits, …

Conceptual Metonymy

Indexicality is metonymic

Defined by association (rather than similarity; often on necessity)

There must be a certain physical, temporal, or metaphorical relation between referential objects for the words/expressions to function

Indexicality

EgocentricitySpeaker-oriented• Deixis (pointing words)

AnthropocentrismHuman-oriented• Inherent orientation

(human-body orientation projected to objects)

Indexicality

Deictics

Gk. deiktos ≈ “to show”• Pointing words

Langauge which orks by ‘gesturing outward’ from speaker, the EGO, to other objects

Indexical orientation — Deictic centre

Lexical egocentricity

Pronouns• EGO = 1st person (I, me, …)• EGO+others = 1st person

plural (we, us, …)• Hearer-of-EGO = 2nd

person (you, your, …)• Hearer-of-EGO+others =

2nd person plural (you, your, …)

• Not-EGO-and-not-hearer-of-EGO = 3rd person (he, she, it, …)

• Not-EGO-and-not-hearer-of-EGO+others = 3rd person plural (they, them, …)

Lexical egocentricity

Proximals• Speaking location

• Where-EGO-is: here, near, … • Where-EGO-is-not: there, far, …

• Speaking time• When-EGO-is: now, today, … • When-EGO-is-not: then,

tomorrow, …• Relative location to speaker

• Close-to-EGO: this, these, …• Not-close-to-EGO: that, those, ..

Expressive egocentricity

The speaker (or, in a rhetorical extention, the hearer) as the (default) reference point for everything else.

• “The squirrel is behind the tree.”

• “Mount Pinotubo is on the left”

Indexicality

Anthropocentricity

Gk. anthropos ≈ “man” (hu)man-centred

Inherent orientation: human orientation projected onto artefacts and entities)

• front, back• left, right• before, behind

Deictic (egocentric) vs. Inherent (anthropocentric) Orientation

Iconicity is metaphoric

Defined by similarity (rather than association)

Sequential order“Don’t drink and drive”

DistanceImmediacy of action

QuantityReduplication

Iconicity

Principle of sequential order

Unless marked, the order of words (by default) mirrors the order of events.

• He kicked sand in my face and I got mad.

• I got mad and he kicked sand in my face.

Iconicity

Principle of distance

Linguistic distance (proximity) tends to mirror conceptual distance.

• She squeezed me.• She gave me a squeeze.• She gave a squeeze to me.

Iconicity

Principle of quantity

Length of utterance correlates with (speaker’s perception of) quantity of concept.

• Dinosaurs lived a l o o o n g time ago.

• Dinosaurs lived a long, long, long, … time ago.

• Lawyerese.• Political speeches.

Iconicity — Principle of quantity

Reduplication

Japanesehito 'person'hitobito ’group of people'kami 'god'kamigami ’group of gods'

Mandarinxiao 'small'xiaoxiao 'very small'gaoxing 'happy'gaogaoxingxing 'very happy'

Reduplication

/ora¯/ = man / ora¯ ora¯/ = all sorts of men

/anak/ = child /anak anak/ = all sorts of children

/ma¯a/ = mango / ma¯a ma¯a / = all sorts of mangoes

Reduplication

/ora¯/ = man / ora¯ ora¯/ = all sorts of men

/anak/ = child /anak anak/ = all sorts of children

/ma¯a/ = mango / ma¯a ma¯a / = all sorts of mangoes

Download the SIL IPA fonts to

see these transcriptions in

PPS files

Conceptual Reduplication

Trinidad and Tobago[jEswij]

• emphatic confirmation, agreement; interjective intensifier

• yes-we?• yes-whee?• yes-oui!

Any questions?

Human accommodations for languageFeatures of languageMetaphoricity, metonymySymbolicity (arbitrariness, convention, learning)Indexicality (relation of association)

• Egocentricity (deixis)• Anthropocentricity (inherent orientation)

Iconicity (relation of resemblance)• Sequential order• Distance• Quantity

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