This text is the result of reflections that originated in the discussions of a study group composed of undergraduate and postgraduate students in a language lab at a public university in the interior of the state of Parana, in the south of Brazil. This study specifically addresses some considerations about the connections that can be established…

One fundamental difference between spoken and written language has to do with the "linearity" of speaking in time, in that the temporal structure of speaking is inherently the outcome of an interactive process between speaker and listener. But despite the status of "linearity" as one of Saussure's fundamental principles, in practice little more…

The characteristics which were held to define the Chinese language within the Western intellectual tradition placed it for a time at the centre in discussions of the genealogy of mankind. The dominant premodern paradigm for the explanation of human linguistic diversity was Biblical exegesis, as discussed and elaborated within the framework of…

From an epistemological perspective, Wilhelm von Humboldt's studies on the Oriental and East Asian languages and writing systems (Egyptian hieroglyphs, Sanskrit, Chinese, Polynesian) raise the question of his position in the Orientalist discourse of his time. Said [Said, E.W., 1978. "Orientalism. Western Conceptions of the Orient, fourth…

Dedicates this issue of "Language Sciences" to Roy Harris, former Professor of Linguistics at Oxford University, on the occasion of his 65th birthday. The article points out that because of Harris's writing style and arguments, he is viewed as a skeptic, who approaches any topic from the perspective of philosophy rather than that of…

Asks what first-order language might be like if there were no way to talk, write, or sign about it--that is, what if there were no second-order metalanguage. By considering the consequences for writing, translation, pragmatics, semantics, and language acquisition and evolution, it is suggested that without second-order, reflexive properties,…

Presents diverse theories and concepts of style. A step-by-step analytical procedure for the stylistic examination of texts is provided, which ranges from a brief summary to which other levels of analysis are related, through diction, register tone, punctuation, clausal and sentence types, paragraphing, schemes of construction, and figures of…

Investigates the developments of "strengthened" possessives such as "hers" and "hern" (earlier her) through a fresh examination of a substantial number of Middle English texts. While the "s" forms developed in different ways, both resulted in a processing advantage, as they signal to the hearer that no head…

Discusses a written linguistic system, evidenced in medieval mixed-language business texts, that was replaced by Early Modern English. Examines medieval mixed-language business writing from the point of view of suffix mergers, as the lack of language specific suffixes resulted in code-intermediate states. (Author/VWL)

Discusses Harris's point that evolutionary accounts of writing must ultimately fail to show what writing is because they fail to come to terms with the conceptual prerequisites for writing. According to Harris, the crucial moment of writing was when graphical marking could be envisaged as having broken free from externally imposed semiological…

Discusses the deviation of early Welsh literature from standard literary form and looks at the change process from the earlier literature in its oral form to written form. It is suggested that some forms and features apparent in the early literature, which suffered extinction because of a movement toward standardization, still survive in some…

Focuses on how to define "writing" that can account for the interplay between spoken and written expressions, among other things. Specific sections discuss the definition of "writing," the concept of writing and the future development of writing, "integrational semiology," closing in on writing or excluding its more recent developments, and a…

Examines newspaper statements about a politician, describing their rhetorical work in the political context and suggesting that the three segments of the articles were conceptually distant texts due to the degree of ambiguity that made an insider reading difficult for foreigners. The paper discusses the double exposure needed to arrive at a…

Argues that the history of punctuation in the English-speaking world offers tangible evidence for the evolving interplay between speech and writing. (Author/VWL)

Attempts to demonstrate that a complete description of elliptical coordinations can be obtained only if the uses of elliptical and nonelliptical coordinations are investigated also. Future research on elliptical coordinations should be directed towards more full-scale analyses of the genres discussed here and other genres. (31 references) (CK)