What It All Comes Down To

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Tzohar
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Philosophical Theory ◽  
Theory Of Meaning ◽  
The Face ◽  
Causal Activity

This chapter assembles the pieces of the puzzle, reconstructing Sthiramati’s argument in his commentary on Vasubandhu’s Triṃśika that all language use is metaphorical. It demonstrates how Sthiramati joins many of the elements introduced in the previous chapters of this book into an innovative philosophical theory of meaning. The innovation lies in tying together, through the pan-figurative view, the Yogācāra understanding of the causal activity of consciousness with a linguistic theory of sense. This theory enabled Sthiramati to present a unique understanding of discourse that distinguishes among varying levels of truth within the conventional realm. This understanding sat well with the Yogācāra’s soteriological and theoretical needs, and most important, allowed Sthiramati to defend the meaningfulness of the school’s own metaphysical discourse in the face of the Madhyamaka’s radical conventionalism. This suggests that the prominent dispute between the early Yogācāra and the Mādhyamika turned on linguistic rather than ontological issues.

A Yogācāra Buddhist Theory of Metaphor

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Tzohar
Keyword(s):  
Figurative Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Philosophical Theory ◽  
Theory Of Meaning ◽  
Philosophical School ◽  
Intellectual Context ◽  
Philosophical Texts

This book is about what metaphors mean and do within Buddhist texts. More specifically, it is about the fundamental Buddhist ambivalence toward language, which is seen as obstructive and yet necessary for liberation, as well as the ingenious response to this tension that one Buddhist philosophical school—the early Indian Yogācāra (3rd–6th century CE)—proposed by arguing that all language use is in fact metaphorical (upacāra). Exploring the profound implications of this claim, the book presents the full-fledged Yogācāra theory of meaning—one that is not merely linguistic, but also perceptual.Despite the overwhelming visibility of figurative language in Buddhist philosophical texts, its role and use have received relatively little attention in scholarship to date. This book is the first sustained and systematic attempt to present an indigenous Buddhist philosophical theory of metaphor. By grounding the Yogācāra’s pan-metaphorical claim in its broader intellectual context, both Buddhist and non-Buddhist, the discussion reveals an intense Indian philosophical conversation about metaphor and language that reached across sectarian lines, and it also demonstrates its potential contribution to contemporary philosophical discussions of related topics. The analysis of this theory of metaphor radically reframes the Yogācāra controversy with the Madhyamaka; sheds light on the school’s application of particular metaphors, as well as its unique understanding of experience; and establishes the place of Sthiramati as an original Buddhist thinker of note in his own right, alongside Asaṅga and Vasubandhu.

Linguistic units and their systems

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-300
Author(s):  
Ross Krekoski
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Philosophy Of Mind ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Rule Based ◽  
Fundamental Properties ◽  
Formal Systems ◽  
Linguistic Units ◽  
Self Reference

Abstract A theoretical discussion of units in linguistic theory would be, in a sense, incomplete without a discussion of the systems, whether overt or implied, that the units are associated with. This paper traces conceptualizations of units and their accompanying systems in several disciplines. We identify some important problems with rule-based accounts (Parsons 1937) of social action and discuss the transition to non-rule-based theory afforded by ethnomethodology (e.g. Garfinkel 1963, 1967; Heritage 1984, 2011). We draw direct parallels between these issues and analogous developments in mathematical logic (Gödel 1992) and philosophy of mind (Fodor 1968, 1983; Lucas 1961; Putnam 1960, 1967 etc.), and argue that these stem directly from fundamental properties of a class of all formal systems which permit self-reference. We argue that, since these issues are architectural in nature, linguistic theory which postulates that linguistic units are the outputs of a consistent, self-referential, rule-based formal systems (e.g. Hauser, Chomsky & Fitch 2002) will inevitably run into similar problems. This is further supported by examples from actual language use which, as a class, will elude any theoretical explanation grounded in such a system.

scholarly journals A Positivist Study of Conversational Pragmatic Strategies

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
Senlin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Face Management ◽  
The Face ◽  
Pragmatic Strategies

<p>Language use is always strategic. Speakers do not only choose linguistic forms, they also choose strategies. This paper intends to explore the ways the language users take to attain their communicate goals, i.e., pragmatic strategies. Specifically, this article aims at a comprehensive positivist of the conversational pragmatic strategies in part of the novel <em>Man, Woman and Child</em> by Erich Segal; the direct-indirect pragmatic strategies in the eighty-nine Coca-Cola consumer advertisements from the year 1886 up to the year 1980; the “conversational maxim” pragmatic strategies in some 793 business letters, the “conversational maxim” pragmatic strategies in seven e-mails; and the “face-management” pragmatic strategies in some 793 business letters. The goal of study is to verify the universality and feasibility of the implementation of pragmatic strategies, both in literary and business writings. Only in this way can the language users achieve their communicative goal effectively.</p>

‘Simple Codes’ and the Source of the Second Language Learner's Initial Heuristic Hypothesis

1978 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Corder
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Restricted Range ◽  
Technical Description ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Verbal Behaviour ◽  
Referential Function

Linguistic theory must be sufficiently rich and comprehensive to be able to account for the structure of the most complex or elaborate manifestation of language. In consequence any structurally less complex verbal behaviour is typically explained as a use of some ‘reduced’ or ‘simplified’ code or register. Many languages, if not all, are said to possess such reduced registers and it is said to be part of a native speaker's competence to be able to use such ‘reduced registers’ where appropriate. It is part of his total communicative competence to know when it is appropriate to use such registers. These reduced or simplified registers are associated with more or less well defined situations of language use or types of discourse. Telegraphese is obviously restricted by the medium of transmission as well as the restricted range of communicative functions it is used for, e.g. orders, reports and announcements of plans. Technical description in botanical and ornithological reference books have a purely referential function, while the so-called language of instructions has clearly restricted rhetorical functions.

The future of Inuktitut in the face of majority languages: Bilingualism or language shift?

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 515-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHANLEY ALLEN
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Language Shift ◽  
Indigenous Languages ◽  
Bilingual Children ◽  
Eastern Canada ◽  
Term Survival ◽  
Long Term Survival ◽  
Code Mixing ◽  
The Face

Inuktitut, the Eskimo language spoken in Eastern Canada, is one of the few Canadian indigenous languages with a strong chance of long-term survival because over 90% of Inuit children still learn Inuktitut from birth. In this paper I review existing literature on bilingual Inuit children to explore the prospects for the survival of Inuktitut given the increase in the use of English in these regions. Studies on code mixing and subject realization among simultaneous bilingual children ages 2–4 years show a strong foundation in Inuktitut, regardless of extensive exposure to English in the home. However, three studies of older Inuit children exposed to English through school reveal some stagnation in children's Inuktitut and increasing use of English with age, even in nonschool contexts. I conclude that current choices about language use at the personal, school, and societal levels will determine whether Inuit are able to reach and maintain stable bilingualism, or whether Inuktitut will decline significantly in favor of majority languages.

Coincidence in Translation

Target ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert de Beaugrande
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Language System ◽  
Communicative Context ◽  
And Linguistics

An important factor impeding the development of explicit theories of translation has been the centrality of coincidence. Skilled translating consists not of following rules or algorithms of equivalence, but of generating coincidences between the materials of the source language and those of the target language. Conventional aspirations of linguistic theory emphasize degrees of generality, uniformity and formality, which such an activity does not readily seem to fit. Also, language science and linguistics have consistently rated form over meaning and language system over communicative context, while translation is an activity in which meaning dominates over form, and context immediately controls and influences how the language system is used. Recent approaches to text and discourse are now striving to revise traditional theoretical aspirations in order to attain better models of language use, and may thus provide a basis for unifying theory with practice in translation.

Joan Bybee (2001). Phonology and language use. (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics 94.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Pp. xviii+238.

Phonology ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 459-463
Author(s):  
Janet Pierrehumbert
Keyword(s):  
Population Biology ◽  
Granular Media ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Human Communication ◽  
Cognitive Representations ◽  
Patterns Of Use ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Mind ◽  
The Way

The functionalist viewpoint in linguistics can take different forms. A caricature of functionalist thinking is the notion that the structure of language is optimised, or nearly so, for its function as a means of human communication. This notion has met with widespread scepticism because of its lack of predictiveness in the face of typological variation. Either it leads to the prediction that all languages are en route to some single ‘Utopian’ (even if they have not quite achieved it) or it leads one to posit so many contradictory functional goods that the nature of possible languages is not effectively restricted. A second, and far more sophisticated, understanding of functionalism is the claim that there are regular relations between the way language is represented in the mind and the way that it is processed during speech production and perception. These relations arise because language is acquired from experiences of use, and because even in adults patterns of use affect cognitive representations. The effects of individual instances of language use are local, incremental and context-dependent. Language use and competence in a language are thus two aspects of a single system. Multiple system configurations are possible for the same reason that multiple ecosystems are possible; like the products of biological evolution, human languages are merely good enough, and not globally or absolutely optimised. This understanding of linguistic functionalism has proved fruitful for at least two decades and is now coming into its own. Its rise constitutes part of the rise of scientific research on complex systems and emergent structures generally, in areas ranging from geophysics and granular media to population biology.

Probing phonological structure in play language: Speaking backwards in Zenzontepec Chatino

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric W. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Linguistic Structure ◽  
Phonological Word ◽  
Phonological Structure ◽  
Depth Analysis

Play languages (also known as language games or ludlings) represent a special type of language use that is well known to shed useful light on linguistic structure. This paper explores a syllable transposition play language in Zenzontepec Chatino that provides evidence for the segmental inventory, syllable structure, the limits of the phonological word, the prosodic status of inflectional formatives, and the autonomy of tone, all of which aligns with independent phonological evidence in the language. While recent theoretical and cross-linguistic studies have questioned the nature, and even the validity, of constituents such as the phonological word, the syllable, and the onset, this study provides an example of a language with strongly manifested phonological constituents. The study also highlights the importance of in-depth analysis of less-studied languages for linguistic theory, typology, and language maintenance or reclamation for communities.

Making Strategy

2018 ◽  
pp. 101-130
Author(s):  
Haridimos Tsoukas
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Practice Perspective ◽  
The Face ◽  
Strategy As Practice ◽  
Epistemological Framework ◽  
Strategy Making

This chapter argues that to appreciate what strategy-as-practice (SAP) has to offer strategy researchers, and to fully realize its potential, it needs to be grounded on an onto-epistemology that acknowledges the various ways through which strategies qua practices may develop, as well as the various modes of intentionality and language use that, crucially, underlie strategy-making. A fully developed Heideggerian onto-epistemological framework provides a coherent way for different types of strategy-making to be researched from a practice perspective. A Heideggerian lens on SAP first brings intentionality under scrutiny and shows how it is constructed in strategizing episodes through practitioners drawing upon particular sociomaterial practices. Secondly, it shows the “inherited background” from which practitioners engage in coherent practical coping, and explores how aspects of this “inherited background” are brought to explicit awareness in the face of breakdowns.

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