
From Grammar to Science
New Foundations for General Linguistics
Victor H. Yngve(Author)
John Benjamins Publishing Co
Published on 19. December 1996
Book
Paperback/Softback
350 pages
978-90-272-2177-3 (ISBN)
Description
Although efforts have been under way for the past two centuries to treat language scientifically, linguists and others who work with language, speech, or communication have not found an adequate scientific foundation in current linguistic theory. Many of the difficulties are caused by longstanding confusions between the logical domain of science and grammar and the physical domain of sound waves and the people who speak and understand.
In this book, therefore, the last impediments of tradition, the ancient semiotic-grammatical foundations of linguistics, are set aside. We move into the physical domain, where theories and hypotheses can be tested against observations of the physical reality. Here new foundations are laid that are fully consonant with modern science as practiced in physics, chemistry, and biology.
On these foundations is built a structure of testable specific dynamic causal laws of communicative behavior that provides support for treating previously recalcitrant context-dependent semantic, pragmatic, interactive, rhetorical, and literary phenomena. The central role of context in the foundations of the theory provides the insights of scientific lawfulness while still honoring the particularity of situations celebrated in the humanities.
In this book, therefore, the last impediments of tradition, the ancient semiotic-grammatical foundations of linguistics, are set aside. We move into the physical domain, where theories and hypotheses can be tested against observations of the physical reality. Here new foundations are laid that are fully consonant with modern science as practiced in physics, chemistry, and biology.
On these foundations is built a structure of testable specific dynamic causal laws of communicative behavior that provides support for treating previously recalcitrant context-dependent semantic, pragmatic, interactive, rhetorical, and literary phenomena. The central role of context in the foundations of the theory provides the insights of scientific lawfulness while still honoring the particularity of situations celebrated in the humanities.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Amsterdam
Netherlands
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 160 mm
Weight
480 gr
ISBN-13
978-90-272-2177-3 (9789027221773)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Content
1. Preface; 2. 1. People, Sound Waves, and Illusions; 3. 2. Traditions of Grammar and Science; 4. 3. Should We Study Language or People?; 5. 4. The Problem with Theories of Language; 6. 5. The Depth Hypothesis; 7. 6. How Can We Know What to Believe?; 8. 7. Opportunities in the Physical Domain; 9. 8. Standard Science; 10. 9. Plans for Emigrating to the New World; 11. 10. Linguistic Theories of People; 12. 11. Properties in Theories of People; 13. 12. Laws of Communicative Behavior; 14. 13. A Scientifically Justified Notation; 15. 14. Linguistic Theories of Groups; 16. 15. Relations between Individuals and Groups; 17. 16. The Group in Its Environment; 18. 17. Types of Interaction between Groups; 19. 18. The Structure of Communities; 20. 19. Notations for the Control of Selection; 21. 20. Notations for the Control of Sequence; 22. 21. Evidence for the Structure of Context; 23. 22. How Individuals Cope in Communities; 24. Summary; 25. Notes; 26. References; 27. Index