Semiotic Theory of Language

"... one of the most significant books in the field of theoretical linguistics ... will become a classic ..." Adam Makkai, University of Illinois at Chicago Circle

• I. The Aim and Structure of the Semiotic Theory of Language1. A Semiotic Definition of Language2. The Principle of Semiotic Relevance and Homonymy3. Saussure's Notion of the Sign4. Linguistics as a Part of Semiotics5. The Goals of Linguistic Theory and the Semiotic Basis of Abstraction6. Synchronic Linguistics and Diachronic Linguistics7. Language Variation8. The Semiotic versus Generativist Notion of LanguageII. Phonology1. The Phoeneme and Distinctive Features2. Physical and Functional Segmentation of the Speech Flow3. Further Problems of Functional Identity4. Distinctive Features and Experimental Phonetics5. Phonological Antinomies6. Some Misconceptions about the Phonological Antinomies7. Remarks on Bohr's Complementarity Principle and Dialectics8. An Illustration: How the Functional View of Speech Sounds Gave Birth to One of the Greatest Discoveries in the History of Linguistics9. Alternative Theories of the Phoneme and the Distinctive Features10. Phonological Syntagmatics11. On Generative PhonologyIII. Genotype Grammar1. Two Levels of Grammar: Genotype Grammar and Phenotype Grammar2. The Basic Notions of Genotype Grammar3. Constituency4. Dependency5. Constituency and Dependency as Complementary Notions6. The Structure of the Sentence7. Valence and Voice8. The Typology of Sentence Constructions9. The Paradox of Ergativity and Functional Superposition10. Some Implications of the Integrated Theory of Ergativity for Linguistic Typology11. An Informal Theory of Passivization12. Alternative Theories of Passivization13. The Formalism of Applicative Grammar13. The Formalism of Applicative Grammar14. A Comparison of Applicative Grammar and Montague Grammar15. A Comparison of Applicative Grammar and Generative-Transformational Grammar16. A Comparison of Applicative Grammar and Relational Grammar17. A Comparison of Applicative Grammar and the Lexical-Functional Grammar of Bresnan18. The Place of Applicative Grammar among Other Semiotic SystemsIV. Phenotype Grammar1. The Task of Phenotype Grammar2. The Word3. The Structure of the Word and Morphological Formatives4. Agglutination and Fusion5. Syntagmatic Formatives6. Concord and Government7. Linguistic Categories8. The Category of CaseV. Linguistic Methodology1. Empirical and Conceptual Problems in Linguistics2. The Analytical-Deductive Method and Imaginary Experiments3. The Special Role of Linguistic Anomalies4. The Complementarity Principle and the Centaur Concepts5. Static and Dynamic Meta-languages6. The Role of Anologies in the Semiotic Theory of Language7. The Use and Abuse of Mathematical Formalism8. The Notion of Semiotic RealityNotesReferencesSubject IndexLanguage IndexName Index