The author reviews "Symbolic Transformation: The Mind in Movement Through Culture and Society," an important first book in a new series that aimed at understanding the myriad ways "social representation processes operate in one's everyday feeling, thinking and acting." The book consists of a series of chapters brought together to develop a rich…

Examples cited refute a generally accepted view that the origins of metaphors are arbitrary. To illustrate this point, examples are cited of how products of nature (curcubitic plants: melons, pumpkins) are used as references to people and their characteristics (hardiness, appearance, texture, inertness, reproductive and sexual connotations). In…

This monograph outlines a course in the study of nonverbal or graphic symbols in communication, of language as symbols and of symbols within language. Performance objectives for the students are: (1) giving examples of the use of nonverbal and/or graphic communication symbols; (2) deducing that people assign different meanings to the same work and…

THIS BOOK ABOUT THE FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE IN HUMAN LIFE EMPHASIZES LEARNING HOW TO CLASSIFY, DEFINE, AND ANALYZE. FOLLOWING AN EXPLANATION OF THE PHYSIOLOGICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ROOTS OF LANGUAGE, CHAPTERS ON ANALYSIS, MEANING, SIGNS, AMBIGUITY, SEMANTIC GROWTH, AND METAPHOR LEAD TO A DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMUNICATIVE FUNCTION OF LANGUAGE,…