English 306A; Harris The cognitive basis of language Metaphoricity, metonymy Symbolicity (relation...

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English 306A; Harris

The cognitive basis of language

Metaphoricity, metonymySymbolicity (relation of convention)Indexicality (relation of association)Iconicity (relation of resemblance)

English 306A; Harris

At every level• Sounds combine into

syllables and morphemes

• Morphemes combine into words

• Words combine into phrases and sentences

• Sentences combine into turns or paragraphs

• Turns combine into conversations

• Paragraphs combine into texts

Elements + combinatorics

English 306A; Harris

SignsSignifier/signified pairs

Indexassociation

Iconresemblance

Symbolassociation-by-convention

Meaning

signifier

signified

“cow”QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

English 306A; Harris

Types of signs

IndexA sign defined by relationship of association (especially cause and effect). Prototypically, think fever.

IconicA sign defined by relationship of resemblance. Prototypically, think picture.

SymbolicA sign defined by relationship of arbitrariness, convention, and learning. Prototypically, think word.

English 306A; Harris

Dimensions of signs

IndexicalityA semiotic tendency defined by relationship of association (esp. cause and effect).

IconicityA semiotic tendency defined by relationship of resemblance.

SymbolicityA semiotic tendency defined by relationship of arbitrariness, convention, and learning.

English 306A; Harris

Metaphor and metonymy

Indirect representationSomething (called the source) carries the primary signification for something else (target) that ordinarily holds that signification.

Metaphor is iconicThe source/target relationship is an asserted resemblance: the target is said to be like the source in some way.

Metonymy is indexicalThe source/target relationship is (not exactly necessary but) drawn from the same habitat: the target is related to the source in some way.

English 306A; Harris

Metonymy—The principle of set membership

One element of a set or a relationship (the source) singled out to represent other element(s) (the target)

• Hollywood loves westerns.• Toronto collapses!• Calgary wins in OT!• All hands on deck.• Thirty head of cattle.

English 306A; Harris

Metaphor—The principle of analogy

One element (the source) represents another element (the target), to which it is unrelated.

• My love is red, red rose.• Homer is a pig.• Toronto is toast.• The table leg is broken.• The orthopedic wing is closed.• Fire kills thousands every year.

(Personification)

English 306A; Harris

English 306A; Harris

“Pussy”

English 306A; Harris

“Pussy”

English 306A; Harris

“Pussy”

English 306A; Harris

“Pussy”

English 306A; Harris

“Pussy”

Metaphor• Target = vagina• Source = cat• Attributes

• Warm• Furry•

English 306A; Harris

“Pussy!” Stage 1

Metonymy (synecdoche)

• Target = woman• Source = pussy-as-

vagina

The ultimate devaluing of a (category of a) person: to a small anatomical component.

!

English 306A; Harris

“Pussy!” Stage 2

Metaphor• Target = the insult

victim• Source = woman (not

vagina)• Attributes

• Weak• Soft• Quitter

• Means ‘Opposite of a man’, but in a wholly evaluative way.

=

English 306A; Harris

“Pussy”

Metaphor Metonymy Metaphor

Indexicality, Iconicity• a relatively mundane

example of ordinary language

• not a fancy literary or rhetorical device

• these processes, and figuration generally, are pervasive

English 306A; Harris

We now return you to regular programming

F

English 306A; Harris

Metonymy, metaphor

to go tyson to go ballistic

Associa

tion

Simila

rity

analogyRepresentationThe picture is metaphoric; the expression isn’t

English 306A; Harris

Conceptual metaphors

TIME IS MONEYspend a day, invest three months, bank your overtime, cost me a weekend, …

ARGUMENT IS WARhe attacked my point, I defended it well, she shot me down, I blew her out of the water, …

ANGER IS HEATyou make my blood boil, I was steamed, he has a fiery temper, she's a hothead, …

TIME IS MONEYspend a day, invest three months, bank your overtime, cost me a weekend, …

ARGUMENT IS WARhe attacked my point, I defended it well, she shot me down, I blew her out of the water, …

ANGER IS HEATyou make my blood boil, I was steamed, he has a fiery temper, she's a hothead, …

TIME IS MONEYspend a day, invest three months, bank your overtime, cost me a weekend, …

ARGUMENT IS WARhe attacked my point, I defended it well, she shot me down, I blew her out of the water, …

ANGER IS HEATyou make my blood boil, I was steamed, he has a fiery temper, she's a hothead, …

TIME IS MONEYspend a day, invest three months, bank your overtime, cost me a weekend, …

ARGUMENT IS WARhe attacked my point, I defended it well, she shot me down, I blew her out of the water, …

ANGER IS HEATyou make my blood boil, I was steamed, he has a fiery temper, she's a hothead, …

English 306A; Harris

TIME IS MONEYspend a day, invest three months, bank your overtime, cost me a weekend, …

ARGUMENT IS WARhe attacked my point, I defended it well, she shot me down, I blew her out of the water, …

ANGER IS HEATyou make my blood boil, I was steamed, he has a fiery temper, she's a hothead, …

Conceptual metaphors

English 306A; Harris

TIME IS MONEYspend a day, invest three months, bank your overtime, cost me a weekend, …

ARGUMENT IS WARhe attacked my point, I defended it well, she shot me down, I blew her out of the water, …

ANGER IS HEATyou make my blood boil, I was steamed, he has a fiery temper, she's a hothead, …

Conceptual metaphors

English 306A; Harris

TIME IS MONEYspend a day, invest three months, bank your overtime, cost me a weekend, …

ARGUMENT IS WARhe attacked my point, I defended it well, she shot me down, I blew her out of the water, …

ANGER IS HEATyou make my blood boil, I was steamed, he has a fiery temper, she's a hothead, …

Conceptual metaphors

English 306A; Harris

Conceptual Metonymy

PRODUCER FOR PRODUCTI only read Dr. Seuss, she wore Calvin Klein last night, the Wolf Blass has too much tannin, …

CONTAINER FOR CONTAINEDthat’s a tasty dish, the needle was the death of her, he drank the whole bottle, …

PERSON FOR INSTRUMENTI’m parked out back, she’s the lead guitar, he’s the drill press, …

PLACE FOR PEOPLEBC voted conservative, Alberta likes cowboy movies, Thunder Bay is surprisingly liberal, …

PLACE FOR INSTITUTIONOttawa raised our taxes again, Queen’s Park changed the speed limits, …

English 306A; Harris

Indexicality is metonymic

Defined by association

There must be a certain physical, temporal, or conceptual relation between referential objects for the words/expressions to function

English 306A; Harris

Indexicality

EgocentricitySpeaker-oriented• Deixis (pointing

words)

AnthropocentrismHuman-oriented• Inherent orientation

(human-body orientation projected to objects)

English 306A; Harris

Indexicality

Deictics

Gk. deiktos ≈ “to show”• Pointing words

Langauge which works by ‘gesturing outward’ from speaker (the ego), to other objects

English 306A; Harris

Indexical orientation — Deictic centre

Lexical egocentricity

Pronouns• EGO = 1st person (I, me, …)• EGO+others = 1st person

plural (we, us, …)• Hearer-of-EGO = 2nd person

(you, your, …)• Hearer-of-EGO+others = 2nd

person plural (you, your, …)• Not-EGO-and-not-hearer-of-

EGO = 3rd person (he, she, it, …)

• Not-EGO-and-not-hearer-of-EGO+others = 3rd person plural (they, them, …)

English 306A; Harris

Indexical orientation — Deictic centre

Lexical egocentricity

Proximals• Speaking location

• Where-EGO-is: here, near, … • Where-EGO-is-not: there,

far, …• Speaking time

• When-EGO-is: now, today, … • When-EGO-is-not: then,

tomorrow, …• Relative location to speaker

• Close-to-EGO: this, these, …• Not-close-to-EGO: that,

those, ..

English 306A; Harris

Indexicality?

Anthropocentricity

Gk. anthropos ≈ “man” (hu)man-centred

Inherent orientation: human orientation projected onto artefacts and entities)

• front, back• left, right• before, behind

English 306A; Harris

Deictic (egocentric) vs. Inherent (anthropocentric) Orientation

egocentric

anthropo-

centric

English 306A; Harris

Anthropocentricity

Gk. anthropos ≈ “man” (hu)man-centred

Inherent orientation: human orientation projected onto artefacts and entities)

• front, back• left, right• before, behind

Indexicality?

English 306A; Harris

Anthropocentricity

Gk. anthropos ≈ “man” (hu)man-centred

Inherent orientation: human orientation projected onto artefacts and entities)

• front, back• left, right• before, behind

= personification= metaphorical

Indexicality?

English 306A; Harris

Iconicity is metaphoric

Defined by similarity (rather than association)

Sequential order“Don’t drink and drive”

DistanceImmediacy of action

QuantityReduplication

English 306A; Harris

Iconicity is metaphoric

Defined by similarity (rather than association)

Sequential order“Don’t drink and drive”

DistanceImmediacy of action

QuantityReduplication

English 306A; Harris

Iconicity

Principle of sequential order

Unless marked, the order of words mirrors the order of events.

• He kicked sand in my face and I got mad.

• I got mad and he kicked sand in my face.

English 306A; Harris

Iconicity

Principle of distance

Linguistic distance (proximity) tends to mirror conceptual distance.

• She squeezed me.• She gave me a squeeze.• She gave a squeeze to

me.

English 306A; Harris

Iconicity

Principle of quantity

Length of utterance correlates with (speaker’s perception of) quantity of concept.

• Dinosaurs lived a l o o o n g time ago.

• Dinosaurs lived a long, long, long, … time ago.

• Lawyerese.• Political speeches.

English 306A; Harris

Iconicity — Principle of quantity

Reduplication

Japanesehito 'person'hitobito ’group of people'kami 'god'kamigami ’group of gods'

Mandarinxiao 'small'xiaoxiao 'very small'gaoxing 'happy'gaogaoxingxing 'very happy'

English 306A; Harris

Iconicity — Principle of quantity

Reduplication

/ora¯/ = man / ora¯ ora¯/ = all sorts of men

/anak/ = child /anak anak/ = all sorts of children

/ma¯a/ = mango / ma¯a ma¯a / = all sorts of mangoes

English 306A; Harris

Iconicity — Principle of quantity

Reduplication

/ora¯/ = man / ora¯ ora¯/ = all sorts of men

/anak/ = child /anak anak/ = all sorts of children

/ma¯a/ = mango / ma¯a ma¯a / = all sorts of mangoes

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English 306A; Harris

Any questions?

Metaphoricity, metonymySymbolicity (arbitrariness, convention, learning)Indexicality (relation of association)

• Egocentricity (deixis)• Anthropocentricity (inherent orientation)

Iconicity (relation of resemblance)• Sequential order• Distance• Quantity