Meaning-Change Through the Mistaken Mirror: On the Indeterminacy of “Wundt” and “Piaget” in Translation

What does a name mean in translation? Quine argued, famously, that the meaning of gavagai is indeterminate until you learn the language that uses that word to refer to its object. The case is similar with scientific texts, especially if they are older; historical. Because the meanings of terms can drift over time, so too can the meanings that inform experiments and theory. As can a life’s body of work and its contributions. Surely, these are also the meanings of a name; shortcuts to descriptions of the author who produced them, or of their thought (or maybe their collaborations). We are then led to wonder whether the names of scientists may also mean different things in different languages. Or even in the same language. This problem is examined here by leveraging the insights of historians of psychology who found that the meaning of “Wundt” changed in translation: his experimentalism was retained, and his Völkerpsychologie lost, so that what Wundt meant was altered even as his work—and his name—informed the disciplining of Modern Psychology as an experimental science. Those insights are then turned here into a general argument, regarding meaning-change in translation, but using a quantitative examination of the translations of Piaget’s books from French into English and German. It is therefore Piaget who has the focus here, evidentially, but the goal is broader: understanding and theorizing “the mistaken mirror” that reflects only what you can think to see (with implications for replication and institutional memory).

Onomasiology in the Romance Languages

Onomasiology represents an approach in semantics that takes the perspective from content to form and investigates the ways in which referents or concepts are designated in particular languages. In this way, onomasiology can be seen as being complementary to semasiology, which takes the opposite perspective and focuses on form-content relations. From a semiotic perspective, the two perspectives can be more clearly defined and delimited from each other by specifying the basic semiotic entities that represent the key reference points for onomasiological and semasiological investigations, respectively. Previous research has highlighted the contribution of both to a comprehensive understanding of lexical semantics. In this respect, the distinction between meaning change and change of designation appears to be of key importance for the domain of lexical innovation and change. In the history of Romance linguistics, onomasiological perspectives were included in early etymological studies (e.g., Diez, Salvioni, Tappolet, Merlo), and the term “onomasiology” was introduced by Zauner. The research on “Wörter and Sachen” (words and objects), and the research focus on lexical fields then took an explicit focus on onomasiological research questions, with linguistic geography established as a specific subdomain of linguistic research. The linguistic maps and atlases elaborated in this context provided important resources for multiple applications and theoretical discussions of synchronic and diachronic issues of Romance linguistics. In addition, various onomasiological case studies on particular concepts and conceptual domains were conducted, and onomasiological dictionaries elaborated. Moreover, linguistic typology has aimed to identify universal patterns of conceptualization and strategies of designation. With the rise of cognitive semantics, the synchronic relevance of onomasiology has been reinvigorated, as many basic approaches and concepts developed in this framework are inherently based on an onomasiological perspective. Bringing together typological considerations and cognitive semantics, and linking these approaches to the achievements of the prestructuralist and structuralist traditions, diachronic cognitive onomasiology opens up multiple perspectives for further research in lexical semantics. Finally, the potential of onomasiological investigations has also gained interest in language contact research, where issues of borrowability as well as semantic and pragmatic patterns of linguistic borrowing have been studied. A broad range of further research perspectives arises from the focus on the language users and their communicative intentions, these perspectives being strongly linked to the usage-based turn in cognitive linguistics as well as to investigations at the semantics-pragmatics interface.

Theory of Meaning Change in the Procedural Text Material

The background of this research is because students often confide in the researcher. They want material that is contemporary, contextual, nor merely textual. Therefore, the researcher took one of the materials about the procedural text combined with the theory of meaning change. The procedural text that the researcher used was a text about how to make crafts out of paper. The purpose of this study was to determine the benefits of the theory of meaning change in the procedural text material for class VII students. The method that researcher used in this research is descriptive analysis. The researcher took the theory of meaning change literature by Abdul Chaer. The results of this study indicate that theory of meaning change is beneficial when it is translated into procedural text material. Last, the conclusion of this research shows that theory of meaning change is beneficial when combined with procedural text material.

Simulating semantic change: A methodological note

The current work discusses the Human Diachronic Simulation Paradigm (HUDSPA), a method to experimentally probe into historical meaning change set up to (i) scan for configurations similar to attested alterations of meaning but in (typically, but not necessarily, related) languages or varieties which did not actualize the change(s) under investigations; (ii) measure the reactions of native speakers in order to ascertain the verisimilitude as well as the particular semantic and pragmatic properties of the items scrutinized. Specifically, the present paper discusses the relative propensity of a particularizer (German eben) to be interpreted with comparatively high confidence as a scalar additive particle such as even and of a concessive item like English though to be interpreted similar to a modal particle along the lines of German doch.

The Online Professor Today: From Isolation and Depression to Connected and Thriving

The online professor today is part of a high-risk group of workers experiencing adverse physical and mental symptoms that were unknown a decade ago. Depression, isolation, divorce, diabetes, antisocial behavior, PTSD, chronic pain, and even suicide is among crises happening now within this population segment once highly revered, yet few studies exist that determine how quickly the declination is occurring and if remedies from mainstream healthcare professionals are being offered; and if so, the degree of healing. Amelioration is often approached from an opposite perspective--meaning, change the behavior and the mindset change follows suit, as modeled by Alcoholics Anonymous, Weight Watchers, and Kaplan. New research, innovation, and application shows there is a surprising disconnect for achieving long-term and fulfilling change, in contrast to practiced methods in conventional healthcare. Subsequently, this research posits that change begins first with the mind, and after we better understand how identities and beliefs produce automated habits, behaviors once hazardous can be transformed into health and happiness.

Eufemisme dan Disfemisme dalam Karangan Emha Ainun Nadjib: “Hidup Itu Harus Pintar Ngegas dan Ngerem”

Changes in the meaning of words with refinement (euphemism) and refinement (dysfemism) occur at the level of a sentence marked by words, phrases and clauses. The purpose of this research is to describe the forms of euphemisms and dysphemisms in the essay of Emha Ainun Nadjib (Cak Nun) with the title "Life Must Be Clever Ngegas and Ngerem" through a component analysis. The paradigm in research uses qualitative by referring to the natural axioms of reality, the relationship between the researcher and the one being studied, the possibility of generalization, and the causal relationship. The data in this study are in the form of sentences in Cak Nun's essay which are included in the process of changing the meaning of euphemisms and dysfemisms. The data is taken from a book entitled "Life Must Be Smart and Ngerem", an article that contains motivation and teachings of life based on Islamic law. The data analysis process in this study includes four stages, namely domain analysis, taxonomic analysis, component analysis, and cultural theme analysis. The results in this study contain a form of euphemism with two modes of use, namely protection and motivation. Meanwhile, dysphemism has two modes of use which include negative evaluation and satire. The four modes are then combined with the equivalent words in accordance with the context of the sentence, giving rise to comparisons based on the meaning components contained. Comparison of meaning components aims to determine the level of meaning change which refers to refinement and roughing. There is one word without comparing the meaning component with its equivalent, namely the word pramonyet. The term pramonyet is used as a form of curbing which refers to the process of comparing human needs with a monkey.