Showing papers on "Sign (semiotics) published in 1971"

Psycholinguistics: An Introduction to Research and Theory

Abstract: 1 Introduction: Organism, Language, and World.- 2 Sign, Expression, and Symbol.- 3 Linguistic Units and the Rules for Their Connection.- 4 Language, Information, and Communication.- 5 Frequency and Probability.- 6 Verbal Association and the Problem of Meaning.- 7 The Philosophical Background to Modern Psychology of Language.- 8 Sign and Object Signified: Classical Theories of the Development of Meaning.- 9 Imitation of Sound, Sound Symbolism, Expression.- 10 The Psychological Reality of Grammar.- 11 The Developmental Psychology of Language Acquisition.- 12 Language Comprehension and Man's View of the World.- Author Index.

Directionality and paraphrase

Abstract: If we look back over the recent history of linguistics-since, say, the posthumously reconstructed lectures of Saussure delivered in Geneva in the first decade of this century (Saussure 1959)-we may find it possible to identify two distinct views regarding the role of semantic data in the formulation and evaluation of linguistic theories, whether they be theories of language in general or theories of particular languages. I shall speak of the BALANCED view and the UNBALANCED view. The balanced view is that linguists can and should concern themselves with semantic data, fully as much as with phonetic, and that theories can and should explain both kinds of data in an equally integrated and systematic way. The unbalanced view, while never denying that semantic data are of some linguistic interest, asserts that their role is largely or solely heuristic. By this view the primary goal of linguistic theories is to account for utterances in terms of the way they sound, and perhaps also to account for certain 'intuitions' which the speaker of a language may have regarding the 'form' of utterances. I shall not dwell on possible reasons why such a view may seem attractive, except to note that phonetic data have typically been thought to be observable in a way that semantic data are not. If only phonetic data are amenable to 'objective' observation, then linguistics, to the extent that it is to be 'scientific', is, by this view, forced to limit itself accordingly. Let us consider briefly the fate of these two views during the period in question. If we begin with Saussure, we find of special interest his discussion of the linguistic sign, conceived of as a two-sided affair uniting a concept and a sound

The Renaissance and/of Witchcraft

Abstract: These lines might well have been written by a denizen of the contemporary counter culture, though he might have respected “Divinity” only by eliminating it for “Government.” The lines can suggest various things. First, that there is an analogy to be made between the Renaissance and the contemporary world. Secondly, that a rejection of conventional learning—we discuss it under the rubric of irrelevance—can be a prelude to a revival of the occult. Thirdly, the utilization of this text can intimate that, for present purposes, the author may owe more to Herodotus than he does to Ranke, that is, more to history as art than to history as science. That, too, may be a sign of the times.

Symbol and Society

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to look into Durkheim's contribution to the general theory of Symbolism by examining the symbolism in his theory of punishment and religion. Concerning this problem, we must begin by clarifying the difference between Sign and Symbol in the semiotical terms. According to S.K. Langer, Sign-function consists of three terms : Sign-Object-Subject ; Symbol-function consists of four terms : Symbol-Object-Conception-Subject, and it is the Conception, or “Thought” as Ogden= Richards call it, that Symbol directly “means”. Now one must be aware that Durkheim's “Punishment”, “Totem (Sacred thing)” and “Ritual” are Symbol-vehicles as well as Sign-vehicles. Punishment, Sacred thing and Ritual as Signs indicate “society as chose or category”, and these vehicles as Symbols connote “society as ultimate value elements”. Besides, the Sign-aspects of Punishment and Ritual are related to the manifest social functions (the prevention of crime and the supply of food); and these Symbol-aspects are related to the latent social functions (the refortification of the solidarity of community). This dualism of meaning-function is considered from the next diachronic point of view. There is an alternation of Sign and Symbol in the world of meaning, each process of which corresponds to the phase of profane life characterized by a factual order and that of sacred life characterized by a normative order. And it is a collective symbolic action called Ritual that causes this transformation of meaning. Durkheim's theory of punishment and religion, as we have said above, could afford the analytical framework for Symbolism in general.

Source and concept evaluation as determinants of inferred assertions

Abstract: Within the context of congruity theory, the following hypotheses were tested: (l)When both source and concept (where concept is another person) are evaluated with a similar sign, a positive assertion will be assumed; otherwise, a negative assertion will be assumed (2) What source is assumed to assert about concept should not differ from what concept is assumed to assert about source Sixty-four Ss were given a list of historical figures and asked to choose what they thought each would say about some of the others from a list of assertions that ranged from definitely positive to definitely negative The results supported Hypothesis 1 While Hypothesis 2 was not supported, there was a systematic effect, whereby the less positively evaluated figure in each pair was inferred to be more charitable in his assertions than vice versa