The cognitive basis of language Metaphoricity metonymy Symbolicity

The cognitive basis of language Metaphoricity, metonymy Symbolicity (relation of convention) Indexicality (relation of association) Iconicity (relation of resemblance) English 306 A; Harris

Elements + combinatorics 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 English 306 A; Harris

Meaning Signs Signifier/signified pairs Index signified association Icon resemblance “cow” signifier Symbol association-by-convention English 306 A; Harris

Types of signs Index A sign defined by relationship of association (especially cause and effect). Prototypically, think fever. Iconic A sign defined by relationship of resemblance. Prototypically, think picture. Symbolic A sign defined by relationship of arbitrariness, convention, and learning. Prototypically, think word. English 306 A; Harris

Dimensions of signs Indexicality A semiotic tendency defined by relationship of association (esp. cause and effect). Iconicity A semiotic tendency defined by relationship of resemblance. Symbolicity A semiotic tendency defined by relationship of arbitrariness, convention, and learning. English 306 A; Harris

Metaphor and metonymy Indirect representation Something (called the source) carries the primary signification for something else (target) that ordinarily holds that signification. Metaphor is iconic The source/target relationship is an asserted resemblance: the target is said to be like the source in some way. Metonymy is indexical The source/target relationship is (not exactly necessary but) drawn from the same habitat: the target is related to the source in some way. English 306 A; 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 306 A; 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 306 A; Harris

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“Pussy” English 306 A; Harris

“Pussy” Metaphor • Target = vagina • Source = cat • Attributes • Warm • Furry • English 306 A; 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 306 A; 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 306 A; 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 306 A; Harris

We now return you to regular programming F English 306 A; Harris

Metonymy, metaphor to go tyson to go ballistic Representation analogy The picture is metaphoric; the expression isn’t n o i at s s A i c o l i m y t i ar Si English 306 A; Harris

Conceptual metaphors TIMEIS ISMONEY spend day, invest three months, spend aaday, invest three months, bank your overtime, costme me a weekend, overtime, cost a weekend, … … ARGUMENT IS WAR ARGUMENT IS he I defended it well, she shot he attackedmy mypoint, I defended it well, me I blew Iher outher of the shotdown, me down, blew outwater, of the…water, … ANGER IS IS HEAT you I was steamed, he has you makemy mybloodboil, I was steamed, he a fiery she's a hothead, has atemper, fiery temper, she's a … hothead, … English 306 A; Harris

Conceptual metaphors TIME IS MONEY spend a day, invest three months, bank your overtime, cost me a weekend, … ARGUMENT IS WAR he attacked my point, I defended it well, she shot me down, I blew her out of the water, … ANGER IS HEAT you make my blood boil, I was steamed, he has a fiery temper, she's a hothead, … English 306 A; Harris

Conceptual Metonymy PRODUCER FOR PRODUCT I only read Dr. Seuss, she wore Calvin Klein last night, the Wolf Blass has too much tannin, … CONTAINER FOR CONTAINED that’s a tasty dish, the needle was the death of her, he drank the whole bottle, … PERSON FOR INSTRUMENT I’m parked out back, she’s the lead guitar, he’s the drill press, … PLACE FOR PEOPLE BC voted conservative, Alberta likes cowboy movies, Thunder Bay is surprisingly liberal, … PLACE FOR INSTITUTION Ottawa raised our taxes again, Queen’s Park changed the speed limits, … English 306 A; 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 306 A; Harris

Indexicality Egocentricity Speaker-oriented • Deixis (pointing words) Anthropocentrism Human-oriented • Inherent orientation (human-body orientation projected to objects) English 306 A; Harris

Indexicality Deictics Gk. deiktos ≈ “to show” • Pointing words Langauge which works by ‘gesturing outward’ from speaker (the ego), to other objects English 306 A; Harris

Indexical orientation — Deictic centre Lexical egocentricity Pronouns • EGO = 1 st person (I, me, …) • EGO+others = 1 st person plural (we, us, …) • Hearer-of-EGO = 2 nd person (you, your, …) • Hearer-of-EGO+others = 2 nd person plural (you, your, …) • Not-EGO-and-not-hearer-of-EGO = 3 rd person (he, she, it, …) • Not-EGO-and-not-hearer-of. EGO+others = 3 rd person plural (they, them, …) English 306 A; 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 306 A; 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 306 A; Harris

Deictic (egocentric) vs. Inherent (anthropocentric) Orientation e c o g e ic r t n - o p o r h t an tric n ce English 306 A; 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 306 A; Harris

Indexicality? Anthropocentricity Gk. anthropos ≈ “man” (hu)man-centred Inherent orientation: human orientation projected onto artefacts and entities) • front, back • left, right • before, behind = personification = metaphorical English 306 A; Harris

Iconicity is metaphoric Defined by similarity (rather than association) Sequential order “Don’t drink and drive” Distance Immediacy of action Quantity Reduplication English 306 A; 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 306 A; 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 306 A; 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, … time ago. • Lawyerese. • Political speeches. English 306 A; Harris

Iconicity — Principle of quantity Reduplication Japanese hito 'person' hitobito ’group of people' kami 'god' kamigami ’group of gods' Mandarin xiao 'small' xiao 'very small' gaoxing 'happy' gaogaoxing 'very happy' English 306 A; Harris

Iconicity — Principle of quantity Reduplication /ora¯/ = man / ora¯/ = all sorts of men /anak/ = child /anak/ = all sorts of children /ma¯a/ = mango / ma¯a / = all sorts of mangoes English 306 A; Harris

Iconicity — Principle of quantity Reduplication Download the= all. SIL / ora¯/ sorts of men to =see /anak/ = child. IPA fonts /anak/ all sorts of children these /ma¯a/ = mango / ma¯a / = all sorts of mangoes transcriptions in PPS files /ora¯/ = man English 306 A; Harris

Any questions? Metaphoricity, metonymy Symbolicity (arbitrariness, convention, learning) Indexicality (relation of association) • Egocentricity (deixis) • Anthropocentricity (inherent orientation) Iconicity (relation of resemblance) • Sequential order • Distance • Quantity English 306 A; Harris