General language

General language

Use this category for general terms related to languages.

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General language

reality

Language; General language

Whilst 'commonsense' suggests that reality exists prior to, and outside signification, according to constructivists (who refer to 'the construction of reality'), 'reality has authors' and what we ...

Media such as television and film are regarded by some semioticians as being like 'languages' (though this is hotly contested by others). Semioticians commonly refer to films, television and radio ...

langue and parole

Language; General language

These are Saussure's terms. Langue refers to the abstract system of rules and conventions of a signifying system - it is independent of, and pre-exists, individual users. Parole refers to concrete ...

linguistic determinism

Language; General language

According to linguistic determinists our thinking (or 'worldview') is determined by language - by the very use of verbal language and/or by the grammatical structures, semantic distinctions and ...

literalism

Language; General language

The fallacy that the meaning of a text is contained within it and is completely determined by it so that all the reader must do is to 'extract' this meaning from the signs within it. This stance ...

logocentrism

Language; General language

Derrida used this term to refer to the 'metaphysics of presence' in Western culture - in particular its phonocentrism, and its foundation on a mythical 'transcendent signified'. Logocentrism can also ...

markedness

Language; General language

The concept of markedness introduced by Jakobson can be applied to the poles of a paradigmatic opposition (e.g. male/female). Paired signifiers (such as male/female) consist of an 'unmarked' form ...