Introdaction 2 questions Flashcards
what are the three types of signs?
Icon: form.meaning relation is one of resemblance
Index: form implies the concept indirectly, through a particular causal link
Symbol: form-meaning relation is arbitrary
The linguistics sign consists of two sides…
signified (concept) and signifiant (sound image)
Linguistics are symbols: …….
arbitrary but concentionalized
There is one common exeption to this rule is so called:
(Linguistics sings)
onomatopoiea
- they are still classified as icons, not symbols
What are the Chinese characters?
icons because they are based on resemblance
ASL= American Sign Language is icon, index or symbol?
the movement through the palm: iconic
The pointing to the head: index -> because the meaning related is related to thought
What is a word?
an arbitrary conventionalized sign/symbol, form-meaning pairing, stored in the human mind (language) or produced within a speech event (parole), in spoken, written or signed mode
Do the animals have communication system?
Yes, they have but different system like dancing bees, chirping birds
What are the properties that make human kanguage special when together?
Reflexivity, Displacement, Arbitrariness, Productivity/open-endedness, Cultural transmission, Duality/double articulation, Recursion
Meaning of Reflexivity
The property of reflexivity accounts for the fact that we can use language to think and talk about language itself
(a dog can`t give advice to another dog : do not bark so loudly)
-> a human is able to reflect
Meaning of Displacement
- Animal communication is designed for a moment here and now.
- but humans can refer to the past and the future and to talk about non-existence
Meaning of Arbitrariness
The linguisctic signifier (pronounce) has in general no straightforward (indexical or iconical) relationship with the signified (pictures)
Meaning of Productivity
- humans can produce sentence never uttered before
- a human can create an infinite number of statements
Meaning of Cultural transmission
a language is copied on from one generation to another (from one social from to another)
Meaning of Duality/double articulation
-both meaningless and meaningful elements (meaning)
- on one level we produce sequences of sounds or signs (in sign langauge)
- on the other level we produce meaning by combining elements
