符号学basis

II Features of Language : a semiotic approach1Arbitrariness（任意性）This can be understood in the following 4 ways:1)From the point of view of embryology(发生学)and genetic linguistics（发生语言学）,the relationship between the linguistic sign and whatthe sign was habitually used to refer to was not motivated. It was onlyan accident that a particular sound sequence was employed by ourremote ancestors to refer to a particular object. But for any oneindividual, the relationship is compulsory and obligatory. He mustobserve and pay attention to the already fixed relationship between thesign and the object the sign is habitually used to refer to.2)Arbitrariness was an essential feature of linguistic signs only when theywere first invented and put into popular use. Later on when theselinguistic signs were used or are used to form new linguistic signs ,therelationship between them and what they may be used to refer to is nolonger arbitrary, but mostly motivated. As in most of the derivatives. Forexample, read, reader, reading, reading-room .3)Arbitrariness is relative because of the constraint of many humanfactors. These human factors may beA The constraint of the cognitive ability of the human beings.B The constraint of the psychological world and physiologicalstructure of the human beings. We can only produce those soundcapable of being produced by the human tongue .C Cultural constraint. Linguistic signs are not an exact mirror imageof the objective world, but patterned by its culture.D Two points for particular attention:●The case of onomatopoeia. More motivated.●The case of sound symbolism. Motivated.8Multi-meaningfulness（多义性）Apart from language ,all other kinds of signs are univocal (单意的)，that is ,one sign, one interpretation, in any situation. But Multi-meaningfulness is an essential feature of language. For example, for the Chinese word “打”,《现代汉语词典》lists 23 senses; and for the English verb take, The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English has listed 28 senses.Strictly speaking, multi-meaningfulness of words is a synchronic concept, not including the historical change of meaning that a word in question has undergone. For example, the Chinese word “处分”had the meaning of “处置”and “处理”during the Tang dynasty ,not the meaning of“处罚”in modern Chinese. But this is not a case of polysemy, because these meanings of the term are (were)not used in the same period of time.11Openness (开放性) （参考《超越》，273页）Language contains an unlimited number of possibilities in structure, content and meaning . This is closely related to productivity and creativeness. The same word, the same phrase, the same sentence, the same text can havedifferent interpretations and understandings in different situations, in different times , in different places, and for different individuals. Because nobody can read a text from the very beginning , he is already influenced, biased, and prejudiced by what he has experienced before . This kind of prejudice is not only unavoidable, it is even a necessary condition for any interpretation of a text. Now in the west , we have a new branch of aesthetics, Receptive Aesthetics ,established by the German philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer (伽达默尔) . His general idea is that, all interpretations are historical , that is everybody is historically conditioned in his interpretative tendency.12Sociality（社会性）1)Language is a social existence, it always exists before the individual.And language can exist only in a society.2)Language is one of the most important preconditions for society.Language organizes the individuals into a society, and pushes it forward.3)Meaning is formed and realized in a specific social condition. Thephonetic part of the language is social in that different nations( whichpresuppose different societies) have different phonological systems, andthe semantic part of the language is also social in that different societies( which presupposes different cultures ) have different ways ofcombining and organizing the semantic features into words andconcepts.15Genrality and Fuzziness（概括性与模糊性）Lenin says, “Any word is already a generalization.” “ Thought and words express general things”. Just imagine how difficult it is to describe painting, a piece of music, or a kind of emotional state. ( Ask two students to describe their emotions ). For example, say something about Mona Lisa .About fuzziness : What is the definition?Give some examples.Is it a defect of the language or an advantage of thelanguage?3Morris ( 1901—1979 )Founder of modern semiotics. His major contribution is the subdivision of semiotics into three branches : syntax, semantics and pragmatics.1)His concept of sign process or semiosis ( 符号过程)。