The main purpose of this article is to discuss the kinds of mental representations that are required for language to evolve. Firstly, I distinguish between cued and detached representations. A cued representation stands for something that is present in the current external situation of the representing organism, while a detached representation may stand for objects or events that are neither present in the current situation nor triggered by some recent situation. The inner environment of an agent is deÞned as the collection of all detached representations of the agent. The fundamental difference between signal and a symbol is that the reference of a symbol is a detached representation, while a signal refers to a cued representation. Icons also refer to detached representations, but unlike symbols, the choice of representation is not arbitrary, since an icon in some aspects resembles the thing it represents (Less)

background

https://sites.oxy.edu/clint/learn/articles/languageandevolution.pdf

Problèmes de linguistique générale

Language and the Evolution of Cognition

Although Latin displays many characteristics of nominative/accusative alignment, it also exhibits a number of properties that are typical of active/inactive linguistic systems. More specifically, the Latin verbal clause displays an active/inactive distinction, as it regularly marks, through the occurrence of dedicated morphological strategies, the presence of non-agentive as opposed to agentive contexts.
This dissertation explores the syntactic motivations behind this opposition, addressing the crucial question about the relationship between syntax and morphology. The claim is made that verbal morphology in Latin is always syntactically motivated, since it directly reflects the difference between active and inactive structures. In particular, deponent verbs are shown not to be a case of syntax-morphology mismatch: these verbs exhibit inactive morphology because of their non-agentive properties. Moreover, it will be argued that syntax and semantics are closely related to each other within the syntactic computation.
From this perspective, this thesis also provides an account of the development of a number of analytic constructions in Romance: perfective, possessive and deontic periphrases. Substantial attention is devoted to the diachronic study of the Romance auxiliation patterns occurring in these constructions and to their relationship with alignment and argument structure. The main claim is that the Romance outcomes of these periphrases are closely related to the active/inactive opposition characterizing the Latin system and to the alignment changes that characterized the passage from Latin to Romance. Therefore, these developments cannot be seen as isolated phenomena, but must be understood as the various manifestations of a systematic change affecting the whole linguistic system. Finally, the analysis and investigation of these diachronic facts confirms that syntactic reanalysis is one of the major forces at the basis of language change.

This study will be of relevance to anyone interested in diachronic syntax, historical linguistics, classical philology and Italian dialectology.

/pdf/argument-structure-alignment-and-auxiliaries-between-latin-2yyp9gbixk.pdf

Argument structure, alignment and auxiliaries between Latin and Romance. A diachronic syntactic account

On et ca sont decrits dans la grammaire scolaire comme des pronoms caracteristiques de l’oral pour lesquels on propose des equivalents «corrects» a l’ecrit : nous et cela, ce qui pose d’emblee l’opposition oral/ecrit. Apres avoir aborde les problemes qu’entraine une survalorisation de l’ecrit dans les apprentissages scolaires, nous proposons de rompre avec cette vision dichotomique. L’actualisation de la langue serait conditionnee par les contraintes relatives a la situation de communication et non par le seul fait du medium oral ou ecrit. Chaque production langagiere se realiserait en un «situatiolecte». La selection pertinente de on ou de ca serait motivee par l’apprehension des contraintes situationnelles : leur sens impose certaines conditions. Nous parlons alors d’«operateurs pragmatiques». Une telle caracterisation n’entretient plus l’opposition oral/ecrit au profit d’une conception de la langue dependante de la situation de communication dans laquelle elle est actualisee.

Introduction de la notion de variation situatiolectale dans la grammaire scolaire par la caractérisation de deux opérateurs pragmatiques : on et ça

Considerant un rap comme une entite auditive et relationnelle, l'etude adopte une perspective pragmatique afin de repondre a la demande sociale a son egard, qui concerne un exces de violence et un defaut de citoyennete. La mise a l'epreuve de deux outils, l'interenonciativite et l'ecoute-en-action, met en evidence une ethique incarnee de la voix, dans la mesure ou les actions vocales rendent presents sur une meme scene auditeurs et rappers. Mais les enonciations de contestations instancient, contre un Eux, un Nous ; et ouvrent sur un regime particulier d'amour/haine. Pour en rendre compte il faut prendre acte de la centralite du langage dans les paroles : les violences verbales prennent place dans une conception plus generale du langage. Celle-ci forme une rehabilitation de l'institution du langage, afin d'etablir un lien social avec Nous. Le rap utilise a ce titre les ressources de l'institution phatique du langage et realise une politique incarnee de la voix adressee.

https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-00126138v2/document

La politique incarnée du rap. Socio-anthropologie de la communication et de l'appropriation chansonnières

This is the state-of-the-art abridged version of my book 'LUIT : Language - a Unified and Integrative Theory', which I am currently preparing. The principles explicited here emerge from a thorough analysis of cross-linguistic data. Language is a biological phenomenon anchored in pragmatic context, which nevertheless allows to attain the symbolic level. Language is by no means a self-contained system, quite the opposite : it reflects the nature of its speakers, determined both by pre-linguistic factors and by language itself. Grammar is therefore not its own solution. There are correlations between the differents realms in which the dynamics of language operates : ontogeny, phylogeny, epigeny, creologeny, diachrony, synchrony, borrowing. The syntax-semantics interface is interesting, but is contained within the systematized part of language : there are other factiors, which are those that determine structure and override it. Linguistics must investigate also the non-systematic, non-structural, non-grammatical aspects of language. Permanent communication > (anatomization, physiologization, geenetization) > Language faculty > Discourse > Grammar. Pragmatics and context are present all the time to varying extents. Language does not translmit pre-existing information: to some extent, it creates it.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00545240/document

LUIT : Language, a Unified and Integrative Theory

Communication using symbols (such as words) structured with grammar

Problèmes de linguistique générale

Citations

Language and the Evolution of Cognition

Argument structure, alignment and auxiliaries between Latin and Romance. A diachronic syntactic account

Introduction de la notion de variation situatiolectale dans la grammaire scolaire par la caractérisation de deux opérateurs pragmatiques : on et ça

La politique incarnée du rap. Socio-anthropologie de la communication et de l'appropriation chansonnières

LUIT : Language, a Unified and Integrative Theory

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