Graphology

About: Graphology is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 214 publications have been published within this topic receiving 2492 citations.

An introduction to graphology: definition, theoretical background and levels of analysis

Abstract: Graphology is a linguistic level of analysis that comprises the study of graphic aspects of language1. This term was first brought into use in linguistic studies in the sixties by McIntosh (1961), who considered it an analogous mode to that of phonology. In his paper “Graphology and Meaning”, he declared he had used graphology “in a sense which is intended to answer, in the realm of written language, to that of ‘phonology’ in the realm of spoken language” (1961: 107). A few years later, Halliday, McIntosh and Strevens (1964: 50) broadened this concept when they connected it to spelling, punctuation and any other matter related to graphic resources in language. Other linguists such as Vachek (1973), Sampson (1985), Coulmas (1991, 1999) and Harris (1995) have also worked on graphology, paying close attention to the properties of alphabets and their evolution throughout history.

Aspects of the Phono-Graphological Design in Soyinka's 'Faction.'

Abstract: Introduction The term 'faction' is a portmanteau word, which according to Tulloch (1991), was coined in the late sixties in the United States to refer to novels based on real or historical events. But in the eighties, the term was extended to dramatized television documentaries sometimes called docudrama or drama-docs. Also, Emenyonu (1991:133) takes 'faction' to be the art of "juxtaposing facts, real and identifiable, with fiction". He asserts that faction is the latest trend in Nigerian novel and that it is evident in Soyinka's Isara (1989). According to him, Achebe's Anthills of the Savannah (1988) also shows some traces of faction. Specifically, he attributes the emergence of the genre as a dominant feature in contemporary Nigerian fiction such as Kole Omotoso's Just Before Dawn (1988). As this critic reasons, the desire to satirize in a more direct and clear manner in order to reform the society more effectively may have been one of the motivations for the growing popularity of faction in the Nigerian literary scene. But I am apprehensive of the trend of turning fiction into the documentation of social history, with a shift of emphasis and focus from the imaginary to the factual. In this paper, I examine some phono-graphological aspects of meaning-making in Soyinka's Ake, Isara and Ibadan--the texts that can be regarded as 'factional' works. Theoretical Framework This paper is linguistic stylistic in orientation and it is hinged on the principles of Halliday's systemic functional linguistics (SFL) (see Halliday 1985). Within this tradition, linguistic events are approached and explained at some inter-related levels, incorporating the primary levels of substance, form and context. Substance is made up of the phonic and the graphic materials of language realized by phonology and graphology respectively; form incorporates grammar and lexis while context relates language form to the non-linguistic features (Tomori 1977:44-45). Systemic functional linguistics recognizes the formal and the situational dimensions of language description. At the formal level, meaningful patterning at phonological/graphological, grammatical and lexico-semantic sub-levels are accounted for, while at the situational level, the contextual variables of language events are brought to light. In other words, the systemic functional model is both structural and functional (Martin, Matheiessen and Painter 1997). Working within this tradition, Leech and Short (1981) identify four levels of language description: syntax, semantics, phonology and graphology. Syntax and phonology form the expression plane and interact to bring out meaning which is the pre-occupation of semantics. According to them, graphology is an alternative form of realization to phonology. Although phonological features can be said to be remote in a written text, they are still not irrelevant. Spellings can be exploited to suggest some phonological features and these will be more prominent when the text is read aloud. Leech and Short describe the levels of organization in speech and writing thus: [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In speech and writing, the process of encoding is top-down--the speaker or writer has some meaning to express and puts it in words in a specific order realizable by sounds or letters. The process of decoding is the other way round, from sounds or letters arranged in a specific order to the level of meaning. This process is bottom-up. With specific reference to the analysis of fiction, Leech and Short (1981:126) defines the levels of language organization thus: [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] I interpret Leech and Short's 'model of reality' as being subsumed under contexts of situation and culture. In text encoding, the writer, based on a model of reality, conceives of a message expressible in the form of meanings realizable by syntax and graphology. In text decoding, the procedure is turned round. …