Chapter II: Two Old-world Theories of Language

Author(s):  
Richard Albert Wilson

Adam’s first task was giving names to natural Appearances: what is ours still but a continuation of the same?—CARLYLE, Sartor Resartus, 1830.What is now usually known as the ‘external divine-origin theory’ of language—a misnomer which arose from erroneous theological expositions of the narrative given in the early chapters of Genesis—has still an interest for the modern student; first, because of the prolonged influence which it has had upon language theory in the Western world; and second, because of certain significant facts regarding language which an understanding reader still finds in that old story of language origin, to say nothing of the poetic attractiveness of the story itself.

2017 ◽  
Vol 135 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-158
Author(s):  
Jan Rupp

AbstractCaribbean writing in English highlights the call for a pluralization of world literature(s) in a double sense. It is produced in multiple Caribbean spaces, both domestic and diasporic, and it clearly stands for the extension of what used to be a rather small set of (Western) world literature. Moreover, not least as a legacy of the colonial New World/Old World distinction, visions of the world are at the heart of the Caribbean spatial imaginary as probed in many literary works. This article explores the trajectory of Caribbean spaces and Anglophone world literatures as a matter of migration and circulation, but also in terms of the symbolic translation by which experiences of movement and space are aesthetically mediated. Because of its global span across different locations Caribbean writing in English is constituted as world literature almost by definition. However, some works pursue a more circumscribed concern with domestic spaces and local artistic idioms, which affects their translatability and redefines a conventional ‘from national to world literature’ narrative.


2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 127
Author(s):  
Estevan Negreiros Ketzer

Resumo: O presente artigo propõe pensar os elementos iniciais no pensamento de Walter Benjamin acerca de uma teoria da linguagem. A questão a partir da qual o centro de sua indagação passa a ser a superficialidade e a falta de vinculação do ser humano com o ato nominativo, vulgarizando-se no decorrer do tempo, obtendo seu ápice na era moderna. A ideia na qual o ser humano se afastou de sua essência está relacionada a uma indistinção da realidade a partir da tradição grega do logos. Como crítica ao fundamento grego, Benjamin recorre à tradição da ciência cabalística hebraica ao realizar uma leitura do capítulo primeiro do pentateuco.Palavras chave: Walter Benjamin; Teoria da Linguagem; Cabala; Pentateuco.Abstract: The present article proposes to think the initial elements in Walter Benjamin’s thought on a theory of the language. The question from which the center of his inquiry becomes the superficiality and lack of attachment of the human being to the nominative act, becoming without value through the time, getting its apex in the modern age. The idea in which the human being departed from its essence is related to an indistinction of reality from the Greek tradition of logos. As a criticism of the Greek foundation, Benjamin resorts to the Hebrew Kabbalistic tradition to read the first chapter of the Pentateuch.Keywords: Walter Benjamin; Language Theory; Kabbala; Pentateuch.


Author(s):  
Marko Pajević

By systematically establishing what Meschonnic called a poetics of society, this chapter explores the connection between a theory of language and a theory of society. Meschonnic makes use of the old debate between realism and nominalism to criticize a language theory exclusively based on the sign. The particular accent system of the Hebrew Bible represents for Meschonnic an alternative model for thinking language, changing our ideas about poetics and subjectivity, with ethical and political consequences. This article sheds light on this political dimension of Meschonnic’s poetics, making the case for the cultivation of language awareness, for poetic thinking as a socially and politically formative activity. It contends that a different approach to language is a different approach to society, which entails that literature is of general social importance and poetics concerns much more than a narrow conception of literature.


2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-310
Author(s):  
Marko Pajević

Throughout his oeuvre, Henri Meschonnic pursued language and literary studies as a means to better understand meaning-making processes and the functioning of society. By systematically establishing what Meschonnic called a poetics of society, this article explores the connection between a theory of language and a theory of society. Meschonnic makes use of the old debate between realism and nominalism to criticize realism as totalitarian, and situates this on the side of a language theory exclusively based on the sign, to which he opposes his theory of rhythm, which emphasizes the semantic value of the continuous dimension of language. The language of the Hebrew Bible, with its particular accent system, represents for Meschonnic an alternative model for thinking language, changing our ideas about poetics and subjectivity, with ethical and political consequences. This article sheds light on this political dimension of Meschonnic's poetics, making the case for the cultivation of language awareness, for poetic thinking as a socially and politically formative activity. It contends that a different approach to language is a different approach to society, which entails that literature is of general social importance and poetics concerns much more than a narrow conception of literature.


Author(s):  
Ирина Анатольевна Мартыненко

Введение. Являясь крупнейшей по площади испаноязычной страной в мире, Аргентина всегда играла важную роль в историческом, экономическом и культурном развитии южноамериканского континента. Топонимический корпус Аргентины на протяжении веков складывался из европейского (преимущественно испанского) и автохтонного пластов. Испаноязычные компоненты в топонимии этого латиноамериканского государства являются своеобразной картографической формой существования испанского языка, семиотическим маркером присутствия испанской культуры в данном уголке мира. Однако в настоящее время говорить о подробной изученности аргентинской географической номенклатуры не приходится. Цель – предпринять попытку комплексного лингвистического описания испаноязычной топонимии Аргентины и внести вклад в изучение историко-культурного облика страны. Материал и методы. Выводы основаны на полученных результатах лингвопрагматического анализа, проведенного с помощью современных электронных технических средств: в качестве материалов и инструментов были использованы карты страны, электронные системы GoogleMaps и GeoNames. Результаты и обсуждение. Автор группирует географические имена испанского происхождения, приводя множественные примеры, объясняя их этимологию и выявляя метонимические цепочки. Наряду с описанием испаноязычных антропотопонимов, религиозных аллюзий, зоо- и фитотопонимов, эмоционально окрашенных топоединиц и географических имен, содержащих числительные, отдельное место отводится военной топонимии, топонимам-тезкам и топонимам-дублетам. Помимо испаноязычных географических имен, определяется доля гибридной и коренной топонимии от общего числа географических названий региона. Гетерогенность форм географических названий здесь указывает на столкновение цивилизаций, неоднородность языковых контактов и богатство лексических ресурсов локальной топонимической системы. Выяснено, что испаноязычные топонимы составляют наибольший процент в сравнении с автохтонными топонимами и топонимами-гибридами региона. В результате исследования испаноязычный топонимический пласт был распределен по группам, самую многочисленную из которых составляют антропотопонимы. Заключение. Полученные структурированные и описанные данные исследования способствуют продвижению цифровых технологий в ономастических изысканиях и позволяют использовать продемонстрированные результаты в рамках курсов теории языка, топонимики, теории языковых контактов, мигрантологии, лингвострановедения, лексикологии, диалектологии, теории нормативности, а также в преподавании испанского языка. Introduction. As the world’s largest Spanish-speaking country by area, Argentina has always played an important role in the historical, economic and cultural development of the South American continent. Over the centuries, the toponymic corpus of Argentina consists of European (mainly Hispanic) and autochthonous strata. The Hispanic components in the toponymy of this South American state are a kind of cartographic form of the existence of the Spanish language, a semiotic marker of the presence of Spanish culture in this corner of the world. However, at present, there is no possibility to talk about a detailed study of the Argentine geographic nomenclature. The purpose of the article is to attempt a comprehensive linguistic description of the Hispanic toponymy of Argentina. Material and methods. The conclusions are based on the results of the linguopragmatic analysis carried out by traditional means and modern electronic systems: maps of the country, electronic systems GoogleMaps and GeoNames were used as materials and tools. Results and discussion. The author groups place names of Spanish origin, giving multiple examples, explaining their etymology and identifying metonymic chains. Along with the description of Hispanic anthropotoponyms, religious allusions, zoo- and phytotoponyms, emotionally colored topo-units and geographical names containing numerals, a separate place is given to military toponymy, shift names and doublet toponyms. In addition to Hispanic place names, the share of bilingual and indigenous place names in the total number of place names in the region is determined. The heterogeneity of the forms of geographical names here indicates the clash of civilizations, the heterogeneity of linguistic contacts and the richness of the lexical resources of the local toponymic system. It was found that Hispanic toponyms make up the largest percentage in comparison with autochthonous toponyms and bilingual toponyms of the country. As a result of the study, the Hispanic toponymic layer was divided into groups, the most numerous of which are anthropotoponyms. Conclusion. The resulting structured and described research data contribute to the advancement of digital technologies in onomastic research, and also allow the use of the demonstrated results in the framework of courses in language theory, toponymy, theory of language contacts, migrantology, linguistic studies, lexicology, dialectology, theory of normativity, as well as in teaching Spanish.


Author(s):  
Richard Albert Wilson

During the middle ages, and up to the middle of the eighteenth century, the theologians’ mutilated version of the Genesis account of language origin, the divine-origin theory as it came to be called, was the theory held by Christian Europe. In the eighteenth century, however, the question of the probability of a natural rather than a supernatural origin of language began to stir in men’s minds. Rousseau’s essay on the Origin of Languages, about 1750, might be taken as the historical landmark which stands between the old and new points of view. This essay is in itself disappointing to one who is acquainted with Rousseau’s other works. His mental interests were practical rather than speculative, and he had no real convictions about the question of language as he had about education, society, and government. He was interested in language, and the changes in language, in relation to the practical needs of the people in social and national groups, and in diverse climatic conditions, rather than in the origin of language itself as an instrument of human reason. As a consequence his essay on the Origin of Languages—not ‘Language’—is hardly more than a series of disconnected reflections upon various aspects of languages, including a discussion of the relation of language to melody and harmony in music which occupies about one-third of the essay.


Author(s):  
José María Moreno Madrid

La llegada de Cristóbal Colón a América en 1492 fue un acontecimiento que sacudió los cimientos del mundo occidental de la época. Una ingente cantidad de trabajos sobre esta cuestión se han centrado principalmente en el impacto que tuvo la llegada de los europeos al Nuevo Mundo, mientras que en mucha menor medida encontramos estudios que analicen el inmediato impacto americano en el Viejo Continente, especialmente en el campo de la historia cultural y del pensamiento. En este último ámbito menos trabajado se encuadraría esta investigación, cuyo objetivo es analizar algunos escenarios diplomáticos o de espionaje surgidos en la Europa de principios del siglo XVI a raíz de la primera empresa colombina. El trasfondo de estos contactos es un mosaico de los principales intereses de la época, entre los que podemos destacar la obtención de informaciones para la construcción de obras cartográficas, ambiciones comerciales o alianzas que inviertan los equilibrios de poder. The arrival of Cristobal Columbus to America in 1492 is considered an important event that shook the foundations of the Western world. A great number of works and investigations about this topic have been focused in the arrival of Europeans to the American continent and its effect rather than on the analysis of the immediate impact of America on the Old World, especially in the field of cultural and intellectual history. This investigation will study that last theme mentioned, being its aim the analysis of the diplomatic scenarios and the collection of intelligence that arose during the XVI century in Europe as a result of the first voyage of Columbus. The historical context of these contacts is a mosaic of the main interests and intrigues of that time. We can highlight among them: obtaining of information to aid in the construction of cartographic works, the development of commercial ambitions, and the forging of alliances that inverted the balance of power.


BJHS Themes ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Judith R. H. Kaplan

Abstract The origin of human language has been a perennial – and perennially controversial – topic in linguistics since the nineteenth century. Much of this work has engaged themes Charles Darwin set out in The Descent of Man, though few authors acknowledge the text directly. How might we interpret such neglect? This essay contends that Darwin's reflections on language challenged foundational commitments in linguistics about the barrier between the history and prehistory of human communication. These commitments are thrown into relief through a detailed study of the dissenting symbolic and gestural theory of language origin put forth by Mary LeCron Foster, who rejected doctrines of linguistic arbitrariness and transformational-generative grammar. Her work on the frontier between animal and human communication is presented through a description of her ‘phememic’ account of the language origins. The paper also emphasizes the rhythm of Foster's career, which provides a significant counterpoint to standard accounts of the development and institutionalization of American linguistics during the twentieth century.


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