Theory of language

É possível delinear o problema teórico do animal como o marco da fronteira tênue entre filosofia e literatura, se pensarmos no papel central que a figura da animalidade exerce em cenas primevas tanto filosóficas quanto literárias. Passando pela definição filosófica do humano (e da política) como uma relação com o animal, e adentrando na problemática do signo que contrapõe um elemento inteligível à sua expressão sensível, como uma alma humana a um corpo animalesco, revisitamos frequentemente a animalidade como uma questão limítrofe que oferece a problematização dos campos filosófico e literário. Não só podemos pensar a distinção filosofia/literatura como uma distinção humano/animal – passando também pela possibilidade de a literatura ser uma filosofia animalizada – como a figura do animal também permite pensar com afinco as diversas problemáticas da teoria crítica contemporânea que comunicam o literário com o filosófico, como a biopolítica, a crise do humanismo, a diferença entre os sexos, a definição de tecnologia, a questão da deficiência, a ética da vulnerabilidade e os direitos humanos e animais.

It is possible to conceive of the theoretical problem of the animal as what draws the fine line between philosophy and literature, if one foregrounds the crucial role that animality plays in philosophical and literary primal scenes. From the philosophical definition of the human (and of politics) as a relationship to the animal, and moving on to the problematics of the sign which opposes an intelligible element to its sensible expression – as a human soul to an animal body – one constantly revisits animality as a frontier issue which offers the possibility of questioning the fields of philosophy and literature. Not only can one think the distinction between philosophy and literature as a human/animal difference – approaching the possibility of literature’s being an animalized philosophy – but the animal also permits thinking through many issues in contemporary critical theory which bridge the literary and the philosophical, such as biopolitics, the crisis in humanism, sexual difference, the definition of technology, the question of disability, an ethics of vulnerability, and both animal and human rights.

The monograph implements a multidisciplinary approach in describing language (a) in its ontogenetic development, and (b) in its close interrelationship with other human subsystems: thought, memory, activity, etc. The focus is on the semantic component of the evolutionary-synthetic theory.
The major results of the monograph are as follows:
- the mechanisms for grammatical polysemy are analysed;
- the structural unity of artefact and natural concepts (such as CHAIR, ROAD, LAKE, RIVER, TREE) are brought to light;
- object and motor concepts are defined in terms of the language of thought, and their representation in neurobiological memory codes is discussed;
- the hierarchic structure of basic meanings of concrete nouns is shown to arise as a result of their step-by-step development in ontogeny.

Reviews
“The book reads with great interest sustained by both the core ideas of the Evolutionary-Synthetic Theory of Language (ESToL) itself―which may be assessed differently by different readers―and the detailed analysis of numerous examples that illustrate the propositions advanced by the author. The main merit of the book is that the author, while declaring a deep crisis in contemporary theoretical linguistics, at the same time suggests a way out of this crisis with the course outlined in the ESToL.”
Alexander Kravchenko, English Philology, Irkutsk State University (Russia)

“Alexey Koshelev takes the next crucial step, toward a synthesis of cognitive and linguistic abilities in their interrelated development, toward a systematic unity of universal and specific, abstract and concrete in language. He begins with patterns in the cognition of objects, from the most basic and holistic representations of an object to the delineation of its distinct features and, further, to the synthesis of the accumulated knowledge of the various facets of an object into a cohesive system for its representation.”
Liudmila Zubkova, People’s Friendship University of Russia [translation J. Smith]

“Alexey Koshelev presents an integral conception of language as a sum total of lexicon and grammar, developed from the perspective of child cognitive development and language acquisition. The unquestionable merit of such a conception is the uniform and consistent approach to analysis and description of a range of linguistic phenomena; this approach is characterized by the deliberate use of a well-grounded methodology and an original set of concepts.”
Tat’iana Screbtsova, Saint Petersburg State University (Russia)

Il contributo discute dell'uso dei nomi nella narrativa di Paul Auster, soffermandosi sui romanzi contenuti nella "Trilogia di New York", che presentano interessanti aspetti sull'origine della lingua e sulla diatriba, inquadrata dal punto di vista linguistico, semiotico e letterario, concernente il NP e il significante considerato come un segno arbitrario, in opposizione alla convinzione che si trattasse di un segno motivato. Con la struttura aperta della "Trilogia", secondo David Lodge, Auster sembra voler riproporre allegoricamente l'idea che, dopo la "Caduta", sia impossibile ricostituire il legame fra significante e significato presupposto antecedentemente, propendendo per l'assoluta arbitrarietà nell'associazione del nome proprio con il senso al quale dovrebbe rinviare. Il testo del saggio (in maniera indiretta nella sua versione in inglese e diretta in quella italiana, successiva e ampliata) propone invece l'idea che in qualche modo tale legame esista ancora, anche se spesso mantenuto o evocato in maniera casuale, o imprevedibile, nella vita reale, mentre la medesima idea fa comunemente parte del processo di nominazione che sottende alle convenzioni letterarie, secondo un approccio al quale lo stesso Auster non si sottrae, seguendo l'esempio di ciò che racconta nell'ultimo dei romanzi della "Trilogia" ("The locked Room"), dove ricorda con quale criterio aveva associato dei nomi reali a individui fittizi per un lavoro di censimento svolto per il Governo.

Сборник посвящен вопросам исследования разных типов текста и их функционирования в общем культурном пространстве. Рассматриваются философские проблемы текста, особенности художественной выразительности, взаимодействия художника и читателя (зрителя), языка и культуры. Широко представлено краеведение, дается обширный библиографический материал.

The collection is devoted to the study of different types of text and their functioning in a common cultural space. The articles deal with the philosophical problems of the text, the peculiarities of artistic expression, the interaction of the artist and the reader (viewer), language and culture. Local history is widely presented, extensive bibliographic material is given.

У манаграфіі разглядаецца рытарычны трактат Мацея Казіміра Сарбеўскага «Аб вастрынi i досцiпе» (1619/1623 гг.): паказаны асноўныя карэляцыі паміж ідэямі Сарбеўскага і праблемамі сучаснай лінгвістыкі і тэорыі камунікацыі; раскрыта сувязь катэгорый помніка («вастрыня», «досціп», «гульня слоў» і інш.) з паняццямі лінгвістычнай паэтыкі і стылістыкі.
Адрасавана спецыялістам у галіне лінгвістычнай паэтыкі і тэорыі камунікацыі, а таксама ўсім, хто цікавіцца рыторыкай, тэорыяй камічнага, гісторыяй нацыянальнай адукацыі.

By using descriptive research design with qualitative method of data gathering and analysis, the main objective of this study was to analyze the representation of postcolonial themes in Dinaw Mengistu's novel called 'All Our Names'. This study was carried out in 2018. Both primary and secondary data were used and analyzed by using thematic analysis method so as to meet the intended objectives. The theoretical framework in this study were developed based on the relevance concept of postcolonial theorists in order to show postcolonial features in 'All Our Names'. The major type of postcolonial themes as method of data analysis was used to interpret and analyze the collected data from the intended novel. This means, the analysis consists of extracting stories from the novel, analyzing and interpreting them based on major postcolonial issues. Therefore all themes like: cultural identity, hybridity and self-otherness were mainly represented within the novel of 'All Our Names'. The representation of those postcolonial themes which the novel incorporates has its own function to understand the meaning of the novel more clearly and also it can invite students of literature to view the novel from a socio-cultural perspective which adds a critical dimension to the reading experience. At the end, the issue of race, gender and class were also found as the thematic issues consisted on the postcolonial themes which have been evident in most diasporic literary productions.

About the book
Peter Kosta
The Syntax of Meaning
and the Meaning of Syntax

This book provides a summary of Radical Minimalism, putting forth a neurocognitively implementable theory of
grammar as I-language. Radical Minimalism tries to give a ‘fully explicit’ description of syntactic structures mapped
into cognitive frames of thought. It focuses on the division of labor between Narrow Syntax and Meaningful Units of
the sentence and also on the role of Mental Lexicon (understood as a selection of Roots and Labels), the Labeling
Mechanism, and the participation of the Senso-Motoric and Conceptual-Intentional Interfaces within a Crash-proof
Grammar of Human Language. The data are taken from the languages of different genetic origins and types. The book
is based on the idea that language and thought are closely connected and must be studied within the physical laws of
the Anti-Entropy and Dynamical Frustration theory.
Peter Kosta’s new book touches on an exceptional range of subjects in theoretical syntax and the philosophy of
grammar, bearing ample proof of his lifelong engagement with these vital disciplines within the humanities of the
20th/21st centuries. His acute awareness of important insights and discussions in current day minimalism is evident
from every page, informing his treatment of a wide diversity of problems in the morphosyntax of Slavic languages and
beyond.
(Jan-Wouter Zwart, University of Groningen)
This book provides a breath of fresh air in linguistic theorising by combining empirically based syntactic innovations
with original discussions of long-standing semantic puzzles and a revised architecture of the Faculty of Language.
Foundational notions in generative theory are thoroughly revised in the light of detailed comparative analyses. This
remarkable work represents the culmination of years of research on what meaning is, how it is structured, and to what
extent syntax encodes meaning.
(Diego Gabriel Krivochen, University of Verona)

At present, foreign and second language teachers face, more than ever, the challenge of envisioning future language teaching and learning. In this article, it is argued that foreign language education (FLE) cannot be properly developed unless we understand the recent-to-present past of FLE. This article encourages language teachers to reflect on their past, in order to understand the future. Two research questions will be asked: 1) What sort of developmental trends can be seen when analysing the recent past of FLE? 2) How can the future of FLE be discussed if the recent past and the present are taken as starting points? A brief analysis of FLE history will be presented and some conclusions drawn based on the analysis. The major change is summarised as a shift from singularity to multiplicity. The analysis is illustrated with a number of examples from the Finnish foreign language education rationale. The article is also part of the POP project's (2002–2005) theoretical thinking outputs.

Keywords: foreign language education (FLE); conception of learning; theory of language; curriculum; method; evaluation; educational technology; information and communication technologies ICTs; e-learning; errors; communicative language teaching (CLT); Common European Framework (CEF).

I will first present Humboldt's definition of Bildung as interplay or transformation of the relationship between self and world (1.1), then define Humboldt’s concept of Bildung via the learning of languages (Sprachenbildung) as a means to not only learn a language, but also a foreign worldview (1.2) and introduce speaking as social practice based on alienation and strangeness (1.3). Finally, I will present the embodied structure of speaking as mediation between body and mind in Humboldt's philosophy of language (1.4). These last remarks point towards current problems of the development of theories of what in a German, academic context is known as General Education Studies (Allgemeine Erziehungswissenschaft), which I will describe in the following chapter. These refer to the idealistic, individualistic and dualistic preconditions of theories of Bildung, following and critically differentiating them from Humboldt. I will point towards three "shifts in theories of Bildung" (2) which can be described with the terms decentration and negativity (2.1), subjectivation and power (2.2) and embodiment (2.3).

The article discusses the problems of linguistic ontology, in particular, of personification of language in the discourses of philological and philosophical sciences. Although from a psychological point of view, language is one of the types of cognitive competence, in the mass scientific consciousness its image functions as an acting agent, as indicated by word usage such as “the word denotes”, “the name calls”, “the sentence conveys”, “the text acts” and etc. The author relies on the theory of linguistic representation and shows that such word usage is wrong: behind them lies an unjustified linguocentrism. In connection with this problem, the author discusses the correctness of the linguistic concept of “information transfer”. Following I. K. Arkhipov, the author shows that linguistic expressions (messages) are real units of exchange, while information is knowledge that a language subject generates on the basis of linguistic messages, as well as stimuli coming from the environment. The article also analyzes related linguistic concepts, which discuss the problem of “sentence meaning” and the role of context in the interpretation of non-compositional linguistic expressions. The author’s conception is based on the concepts of general and example meaning, the mutual correspondence of which varies in different semiotic systems (isological and non-isolological).

This article investigates the implications of the ancient nomos/physis debate to Trinitarian theology. While the Cappadocians, countering Heteroousians, eventually demonstrated that naturalist understanding of naming did not work for Christian theology, Hilary still assumed that it did. Hilary is usually grouped with naturalists who held that names were not arbitrary and conventional impositions, but that they corresponded to the nature of what they designated. Yet, there are several complications with such a grouping, because not all naturalists (e.g., Cratylus, Stoics, Origen, Eunomius) say the same thing, focus on same issues, have theological interest in names, or agree with Hilary. Accordingly, this paper will argue that Hilary can be called a “naturalist” only in a qualified sense.

Se suele recordar la observación de Duns Escoto (1295) sobre que en su tiempo existía una magna altercatio acerca de cómo interpretar las célebres frases iniciales del De Interpretatione de Aristóteles. Su cofrade Roger Bacon había aludido poco antes (1267) a una non modica contentio inter vires famosos sobre el mismo tema. La discusión sobre el llamado "triángulo semántico" establecido por el Filósofo entre voces y letras, pasiones del alma y cosas comenzaba a alcanzar, para estas décadas, su pico de desarrollo, pero tenía importantes antecedentes en los comentarios de Boecio, que a su vez transmitían discusiones de los círculos neoplatónicos tardoantiguos. En este trabajo reseñaremos las principales cuestiones en controversia: 1) Un punto discutido desde antiguo era por qué Aristóteles había hablado de "pasiones": la línea porfiriano-boeciana tendía a minimizarlo, identificando esas pasiones con los conceptos simples, verdaderos productos de la actividad del intelecto. A partir del ingreso de las teorías árabes de la intentio y la species y, especialmente, desde la teoría tomista que articulaba las nociones de especie inteligible y verbo mental, surgió una medulosa discusión sobre si las "pasiones del alma" serían puros actos mentales equivalentes a cualidades reales (posición definitiva de Ockham) o entes de razón, objetos mentales puramente intencionales (posición de Tomás). 2) La utilización aristotélica de dos nociones semánticamente diversas –“símbolos” e “indicios”– para referirse a la misma relación entre voces y pasiones no pareció preocupar a los antiguos y resultó, directamente, disuelta en la traducción boeciana de ambos por el muy neutro "notas". Sin embargo, la concepción indicial de lo mental fue exhumada por Bacon y resonaría en teorías del siglo XIV (Crathorn) que formulaban una concepción de las pasiones del alma como copias de las palabras, contra la tendencia ockhamista a caracterizar de modo funcionalmente idéntico a los signos convencionales (voces y letras) y naturales (conceptos). 3) El hecho de que Aristóteles dirigiera, de modo aparentemente inequívoco, la significación del lenguaje hacia los contenidos mentales y no hacia las cosas, fue aparentemente poco problematizado, y sólo Boecio insinuó una reformulación. Este fue el verdadero núcleo de la magna altercatio escolástica y dividió aguas entre una corriente que mantenía la direccionalidad semántica primaria del lenguaje hacia las pasiones (Tomás, Duns Escoto, Burley) y otra que la reconducía hacia los estados de cosas (Ockham).

Peter Koch and Wulf Oesterreicher’s concepts immediacy and distance (Koch/Oesterreicher 1985), as well as Koch’s closely related notion of discourse traditions (Koch 1987), are probably the most successful and frequently cited in Romance linguistics over recent decades, and have even been adopted in other disciplines, thus becoming part of the linguistic canon. This “canonization” might be seen, for example, in the fact that they are often mentioned without explicit reference to the sources, as if it is supposed that they are common knowledge. These concepts are explicitly built on Coseriu’s theory of language and are envisaged as filling gaps, covering areas not taken into account by Coseriu. There are only a small number of explicit comments by Coseriu himself on Koch’s and Oesterreicher’s proposals. However, I believe that it is possible, at least in part, to infer from Coseriu’s work his view on the issues raised by them, even if to do so entails going back as far as his work from the 1950s, when his theory of language was first outlined.

In virtù dell'analisi dei testi linguistici di Benedetto Varchi, rimasti manoscritti fino all'Otto e al Novecento, si individuano le tappe in cui, in concomitanza con gli studi di testi aristotelici (la logica al primo posto), nell'autore dell'«Ercolano» prendevano corpo una solida definizione della natura del linguaggio e la determinazione delle strutture di una lingua. Applicata alla situazione linguistica coeva, l’analisi scaturita dallo studio delle lingue e dei testi classici ha portato Varchi a riflettere sulla complessità della lingua volgare e dei suoi registri, nonché a reinterpretare le teorie di Pietro Bembo.
Il punto di svolta nella formazione del pensiero linguistico varchiano è rappresentato dagli studi filosofici all’Università di Padova (1537-1541) e dalla riflessione sulla «Poetica», sulla poesia e sui generi letterari all’interno dell’Accademia degli Infiammati (1540-41). Cruciale (si sottolinea) è stato il momento degli interventi nel cenacolo patavino di Lombardi e di Maggi che leggevano la «Poetica». Il pensiero linguistico di Varchi che aveva preso avvio dal passo del «De interpretatione» di Aristotele (16a 3-4) si consolidava in forza della lettura del capitolo linguistico della «Poetica», commentato da Vincenzo Maggi, il quale nell’"explanatio" del brano aveva accentuato il criterio scrupolosamente grammaticale dell’esame condotto dal filosofo greco. Negli scritti di Varchi, che risalgono a quel periodo, molto prima dell'«Ercolano» (grammatiche del latino e del toscano, nonché gli abbozzi di un nuovo alfabeto per il volgare), si osserva una coerenza teorica nel porre in rilievo il fatto che le lingue sono prima di tutto parlate e l’uso corretto della lingua volgare si fonda sulla capacità di ben parlare. Da questo presupposto il Varchi muove nella sua teorrizzazione sul linguaggio, sul volgare letterario e sulla lingua d’uso.

The first section of this paper deals with the crisis of
contemporary theoretical linguistics, illustrating the coexistence
and independent development of a number of mutually
exclusive language theories such as those of Noam Chomsky,
Ray Jackendoff, Igor Mel’čuk, George Lakoff, etc. The second
section demonstrates that, apparently, neither scientific disputes,
the interdisciplinary approach nor experimental data reconcile
the varying schools of linguistic thought. In the conclusion, it is
postulated that the only possible way out of this theoretical dead
end is the development of a unified concept, an evolutionary
synthetic theory of language. The article contains a brief outline
of the theory in question.

Friedrich Nietzsche blames the “Eleatic concept of Being” for the “error” of our belief in the existence of self-contained, standalone “subjects” and “objects”. He also accuses language of being the “perpetual advocate” of this error in as much as “every word, every sentence we utter speaks in its favour”. To credit this view, this paper focuses on three points: (1) the way the Eleatic concept of Being influenced the ontological theorising of Plato and Aristotle, (2) the decisive impact their “Science of Being” exerted on their ideas on the “rational” way to use language to speak about “what-truly-is” and (3) how their way of co-organising the “categories of Being” and the “categories of language” has resulted in a language, our language, which cannot be used without, ipso facto, experiencing things and world, ourselves and others as replicants of the Eleatic “One”.

Existen dos afirmaciones centrales en las cuales convergen todos, o al menos casi todos, los autores que se autodenominan «originalistas»: 1) la tesis de la fijación que mantiene que el contenido semántico de cualquier disposición constitucional fue fijado al momento en que el texto constitucional fue aprobado o ratificado; salvo que mediase una reforma o enmienda constitucional. 2) La tesis de la contribución por la cual se afirma que el significado original de la Constitución contribuye al contenido y desarrollo de las prácticas constitucionales actuales. Sin embargo, las teorías originalistas se diferencian por el alcance o modo de comprender esas dos afirmaciones centrales de la tradición originalista. El estudio del originalismo que se desarrolla en esta monografía se estructura a partir de cuatro capítulos en los que se reconstruye y examina críticamente la consistencia de los presupuestos semánticos de las teorías originalistas contemporáneas en el ámbito estadounidense. En la primera parte se delimita el marco del debate para el resto de la monografía. En la segunda parte se describe y evalúa críticamente tanto el originalismo de intenciones como el originalismo del significado público. Finalmente, en la tercera parte, sobre la base de una respuesta a cada una de las limitaciones de las teorías originalistas examinadas en los capítulos anteriores, se presentan las bases para desarrollar una práctica originalista anclada sobre un realismo semántico; esto es, una teoría del significado que prioriza elementos rígidos o no convencionales por sobre el aspecto socialmente construido de todo lenguaje.

The author considers the impact of postmodernism on the contemporary humanities, especially on the theoretical linguistics. The main thesis of the paper can be formulated as follows: postmodernism contributes to the fact that in linguistics increasingly there are such tendencies, like mudding the subject of research, dispense with the ‘directives of language’, i.e. the disuse of conventional scientific language, violations of the requirement of statements verifiability, breaking the rules of communication. The author examines the elements of postmodern science on example of several directions of modern linguistics: cultural linguistics (linguoculturology), ethnolinguistics, anthropological linguistics, cognitive linguistics, and discourse linguistics.

Obwohl Nikolaus von Kues die Sprache nicht zum Gegenstand seiner Spekulationen machte und infolgedessen keine systematische Sprachphilosophie formulierte, habe ich in meiner Dissertation ?Metaphysik der Sprache. Das Problem der Sprache bei Nikolaus von Kues? versucht, das sein Denksystem ausgehend von den vielen und wichtigen Bemerkungen über die Sprache in verschiedenen Stellen seiner Werke zu analysieren. Das erlaubte mir, eine cusanische Theorie der Sprache aufzustellen. Ziel des Vortrags ist es, das Forschungsschema meiner Dissertation vorzustellen:  1. Der Vortrag beginnt mit dem bisherigen Forschungsstand, was das Problem der Sprache bei Nikolaus von Kues angeht. Es werden einige Marksteine der Forschung im Kontext der Philosophie des letzten Jahrhunderts und drei Einwendungen gegen eine systematische Behandlung des Problems der Sprache beim Cusaner erwähnt.  2.1. Dennoch werden Elemente des Denkens von Nikolaus von Kues behandelt, die erlauben, eine cusanische Theorie der Sprache aufzustellen:  2.1.a. Es wird gezeigt, dass eine cusanische Theorie der Sprache ihre letzte Grundlage in der methaphysisch-theologischen Lehre des Lógos bzw. des Verbum findet, die Nikolaus von Kues in seinem ganzen Werk, ab der Predigt ?In principio erat Verbum? (1428/30), entfaltet.    2.1.b. Diese Lehre wird von einer Metaphysik des menschlichen Geistes abgeleitet, die der Cusaner zum ersten Mal auf eine systematische Weise in den Büchern von De coniecturis formuliert. Denn der menschliche Geist als lebendiges Bild Gottes begreift sich als ein schaffender, dynamischer, dreieniger Ursprung, der eine mutmaßliche bzw. symbolische Welt entfaltet. Durch diese Ausfaltung neigt der menschliche Geist humaniter dazu, ein mutmaßliches Verständnis von sich selbst und seinem Ursprung zu erlangen.  2.1.c. Daher enthüllt, offenbart oder teilt sich der Geist mit durch Worte, die ausgesprochen und geschrieben werden. Daraus geht die systematische Funktion der Sprache im Denken vom Cusaner hervor. Denn durch das Wort kennt der Geist sich selber, genauso wie der Ursprung sich selber und alles in seinem Verbum  begreift und versteht.  2.1.d. Es wird gezeigt, dass ein wichtiges Element einer cusanischen Theorie der Sprache die Beilegung von Namen bzw. Worten ist, die durch eine Bewegung der ratio beigelegt werden, so wie es vom Cusaner ab De docta ignorantia behauptet wird. Darüber hinaus wird auf die Einschätzung vom Cusaner der Sprache Adams in De genesi (1447), De venatione sapientiae (1463) und im Compendium (1463) hingewiesen, die als die theologische Grundlage für die Beilegung von Namen betrachtet wird.  2.2. Zum Schluss wird gezeigt, dass eine der Hauptfunktionen des Wortes in einer cusanischen Theorie der Sprache im Zusammenhang mit den Namen steht, die in einer mutmaßlichen Weise den dreienigen schaffenden Dynamismus des ersten Ursprungs zum Ausdruck bringen. Auch wenn es keinen Überblick über die Hermeneutik der göttlichen Namen von Sermo I bis De apice theoriae in dieser Arbeit gibt, wie es der Fall in den sechs Kapiteln des zweiten Teils meiner Dissertation war, kommt es in dem Vortrag zu einer globalen Einschätzung der Bedetung dieses wichtigen Topos im cusanischen Denken. Es wird dabei auf die Bezeichnungskraft des ?non aliud? hingewiesen, weil es der einzige rätselbildliche Name ist, der sich selber und alles durch sich selbst definiert.

Предметом статьи является обсуждение теоретических проблем функциональной семантики, а также эвристических способов представления языковых значений. Автор рассматривает основные положения современной лингвистической семантики с учетом эвристической модели, известной как семантический треугольник. Показаны ограничения этой модели, а также расширительная, коннексивная концепция семантической функции с учетом социо-культурного и прагматического факторов речевой деятельности.

Der Band umfasst Beiträge zu einem Symposium über die „Zukunft von Grammatik – Die Grammatik der Zukunft“, das vom 12. bis 13. Februar 2016 zu Ehren des 80. Geburtstags von Werner Abraham an der LMU München abgehalten wurde. Thematisiert wird der Stellenwert von Grammatikschreibung, Grammatiktheorie und Universalgrammatik in einer Zeit, die sich zunehmend von der Beschreibung und Erklärung grammatischer Strukturen sowie von übereinzelsprachlichen Generalisierungen abwendet, was einer Entwissenschaftlichung von Linguistik gleichkommt. Der Band zeigt, dass die Grammatik der Zukunft weiterhin auf Generalisierungen auf hohem analytischen Niveau angewiesen ist; exemplarisch wird das in Beiträgen zu Modalität, Passiv, Auxiliarselektion, zur Grammatik der Sprechakte und nicht zuletzt am Beispiel der Kodierung von Zukunft in der Grammatik sowie weiteren grammatischen Kategorien, Phänomenen und Subdisziplinen (Insubordination, Diminutivbildungen, quantitativer und qualitativer Dialektologie) auf­gezeigt. Es wird deutlich, dass Sprachtheorien optische Instrumente darstellen, mit denen sprachliche Daten mit höherer Auflösung wahrgenommen werden können als mit theoriefernen und vermeintlich datennahen Ansätzen in Teilströmungen der aktuellen Linguistik.

Animal communication can be understood in terms of signals to which receivers respond. However, human animals are special in our ability to produce numerous signals that relate to our different languages and cultures. This evolutionary transition is typically seen as resulting from cognitive processes that are computational and/or social. I argue instead that language is fundamentally characterised by how we make receivers respond. I call this behaviour prescription: all signallers behave in the end-directed, intentional way that is characteristic of living organisms, but only human organisms intend to make receivers respond to their signals, as opposed to relying on evolved responses. This biological view of intention contrasts with the psychological or philosophical notion of Intentionality. I show that Intentionality conflates mental and behavioural end-directedness because these two elements are intrinsic to the prescriptive intentions of humans. Like the notion of meaning, Intentionality stems from a sociocentric perspective that precludes an objective view of human cognition and communication. Therefore, I suggest the following ecological perspective: human society is composed of different competing groups, institutions that prescribe behaviour around signs and symbols. This institutional niche may correspond to the origin of the hominin lineage, and be a necessary condition for the evolution of the syntactic ability we normally associate with language.

The paper deals with the description of linguistic knowledge using the theory of paradigms. The author focuses on two aspects of the linguistics paradigms: the integration and the differential, highlighting the diversity of research directions in the modern linguistics. The method proposed by the author is based on the assumptions of the sociology of science, according to which linguistics is regarded as a social system. Within the new scientific discipline described as linguistics sociology, a complex of the research procedures is expected, such as biblio-metric analysis, analysis of the public opinion, thematic analysis of journals, scientific sessions, grant policy analysis, analysis of academic and educational programs of language learning et al.

The naïve intuition that languages are different, and that each of them offers a “vision of the world”, becomes an unscientific statement – opposed to a universalism – save as it is explained in the framework of a theory of language and languages. The 20th century crusade against the pros and cons of linguistic relativity often misunderstood the hypothesis
by Humboldt, Boas, Neo-Humboldtians and even by Sapir, emphasizing a “Whorfian relativism” flowing into a trivial determinism. To clarify the origin of this question in modern linguistic thought and its theoretical interest for linguistics and cognitive research, I will explore the 19th- and 20th-centuries roots of linguistic relativity, from Humboldt to
the Neo-Humboldtians, briefly outlining its widespread persistence in European structural semantics.

This paper tries to briefly describe the relation between the triad language -
world - (phenomenological) ego, on one side, and Otherness (which in its turn has a threefold constitution) on the other side.

Coseriu's trichotomy of the planes of language (historical, universal, individual) and of semantic contents (significatum, designatum, sense) is referred to Wilhelm von Humboldt's two dimensions of Otherness:

1. Otherness always-already-contained in the diverse strata of linguistic competence, which form the foundation of any new language act, and

2. radical Otherness - as the telos of the language act itself, i.e. as the singular orientation towards a specific person.

This book continues the "Language Attraction" series, the first volume of which was published in 2007. The book includes articles written in Russian and previously published in journals and collections, the topics of which concern the main problems of modern linguistics, grouped, in accordance with the well-known "dimensions of the sign" by Charles Morris, into three sections: syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. In preparing this edition, all articles have been revised, expanded or supplemented to a greater or lesser extent, in particular, taking into account new publications.

É notável que, apesar dos inegáveis e incessantes avanços nas investigações sobre o funcionamento da linguagem e seu valor para a experiência humana, pouco se tem explorado sobre sua origem e fundamentos naturalísticos. Seguindo a filosofia do pragmatismo americano, John Dewey (1859-1952) pôde contribuir com um tratamento da linguagem que a associa às bases naturalísticas do conhecimento. O
presente trabalho tem por objetivo evidenciar como a influência de Darwin sobre o programa filosófico de Dewey se reflete em sua teoria da linguagem. Para isso, são apresentados os principais pensadores do pragmatismo e sua estrutura de pensamento basilar; é discutido o paralelo teórico entre Darwin e Dewey, assim como suas teses sobre a experiência natural; e, por fim, a teoria da linguagem de Dewey é sintetizada à luz da influência darwinista e dos parâmetros do pragmatismo. Espera-se que este trabalho contribua com as investigações sobre a linguagem de modo que forneça um quadro de aspectos a serem observados na formulação de uma teoria geral da biossemiótica (ou biossemiologia).

В статье рассматривается перевод как семаономасиологический процесс, т. е движение от текста к смыслу и от смысла к тексту. Осмысление текста исходного языка (ИЯ) рассматривается в связи с такими понятиями, как реконструкция дискурса и концептуальная структура. Переход от смысла к тексту трактуется как компромисс двух языков и культур, участвующих в переводе.