From Mouth to Hand

Abstract

Within a semiogenetic theory of the emergence and evolution of the language sign, I claim that a structural-notional analysis of submorphemic data provided by certain reconstructed PIE roots and their reflexes, projected as far back as theories of the evolution of speech will permit by a principle of articulatory invariance, points to the existence of an unconscious neurophysiologically grounded strategy for 'naming' parts of the body. Specifically, it is claimed that the occlusive sounds produced by open-close movements of the mouth, which have been shown experimentally to be synchronized with open-close movements of the hand(s), may have functioned as 'core invariants'. Morphogenetically transformed into conventionalized language signs, these could have served to 'name' not only the mouth movements and articulators involved, but also the hand movements with which they appear to be coordinated, as well as the hand itself.

Langagement (languaging), langage et énaction, a tale of two schools of scholars : un dialogue entre biologie et linguistique en construction

“…Dans le domaine du lexique, la submorphémie a donné lieu à de nombreux développements, comme la théorie sémio-génétique (Philps, 2006) sur la co-évolution du signifiant et de l'inscription de modèles kinésiques dans la relation corps / objet, le modèle matrice-étymons-racines de Bohas (2006) sur le lexique des langues sémitiques, la théorie de la saillance de Grégoire (2014 et à paraître), qui modélise la variation de la prise en charge des matrices submorphémiques par le locuteurs, les travaux de Rocchetti sur la submorphémie lexicale et grammaticale en italien, la phonosémantique de Nobile (2012Nobile ( , 2014 pour l'italien, les séries lexicales de Nemo (2005) sur la submorphémie dans le lexique français. Bottineau a pour sa part proposé que les « phonesthèmes » du lexique anglais classent les mots en fonction de schémas kinésiques conventionnels (cf.…”

Words in the mirror

“…The concept of diagram was subsequently developed by several scholars including Talmy Givón (1985 and1995), Linda Waugh (1993), Olga Fischer (1999 and2001, the latter with Max Nänny), Marianne Kilani-Schoch and Wolfgang Dressler (2005: 39-57), and it seems today to constitute the prevailing sense of the term iconicity. Nevertheless, research into imagic iconicity was also renewed in several directions, for example by Ivan Fónagy (1983 and2001), Maurice Toussaint (1983), Kawada Junzo (1988), < p. 107 > Margareth Magnus (2001), Didier Bottineau (2002), Philippe Monneret (2003 and, Dennis Philps (2006), and Federico Albano Leoni (2009).…”

Introduction

“…Adams 1973, Bauer 1983, Plag 2003 Fandrych dans ce numéro), et à la cognition (cf. Bottineau 2002, Philps 2006, ainsi que Argoud et Bottineau dans ce numéro).…”

“…Although Guillaume never did so himself, transposing this principle from the morphemic to the submorphemic level brings to light the fact that word-initial submorphemes displaying both phonological and notional invariance, such as the sl-segment used as an example by Crystal in slack, slime, slop, slouch, slow and slug (see Tournier 1985: 146), are endowed not with meaning, but with a potential for meaning which requires certain conditions to be met, whether at system or discourse level, to become linguistically meaningful (see Philps 2005). The logic that underlies this transposition runs as follows: any value attributable to a given set of words on the basis of notional invariance (e.g.…”

“…Among other topics, lexical submorphemics addresses areas such as sound symbolism (see Jespersen 1922, Fónagy 1983, Malkiel 1990, Hinton et al 1994, Genette 1995, Humboldt 1999, and Chadelat, this issue), submorphemic iconicity (see Mannheim 1991, Waugh 1993, Waugh & Newfield 1995, Nuckolls 1996, and Philps, this issue), word-formation (see Adams 1973, Bauer 1983, Plag 2003, and cognition (see Bottineau 2002, Philps 2006, as well as Argoud and Bottineau, this issue).…”