Bliss Symbols form a language system of 100 basic symbols based not on the sound of words but on their meaning. Physically handicapped persons of a wide age and intellectual range are benefiting from the system. (Author/MLF)

The investigation compared the transparency of 11 different types of symbols with 40 nonspeaking mentally retarded subjects (ages 4-20). Analysis indicated a hierarchy of difficulty with actual objects the easiest and Blissymbols and written words the hardest to understand. Results have implications for selecting initial symbol systems for…

Outlines a model shift in public relations between those who use only symbolic activities and those who use substantive behavior. Investigates and deconstructs the meaning of image. Suggests that organizations focus on more precise concepts of symbolic objectives and evaluate their success in achieving them. (HB)

Investigates the mathematical ideas in iconographic designs such as sand scenes, yawalyu, site-path designs, and guruwari from the perspective of formal language theory and provides short formal grammars that generate the languages of designs. Suggests the pedagogical value of viewing Walpiri iconography as mathematics and discusses whether the…

Examines the direct and indirect support for the Whorf hypothesis which states that one thinks in a language and that language shapes what one thinks and perceives. (RB)

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…

Librarianship is the management of knowledge, not the management of nature, i.e., it is controlled by ideas, not by phenomena. The man/document interface provides a key for creating the philosophy of librarianship and a clue to the intellectual nature of the library profession. Because librarianship occurs whenever ideas are reused, librarians…

Arguing that understanding human interaction requires both a study of symbol use and a study of human action, this paper focuses on one function served by symbolization--fantasizing. Drawing upon the work of R. F. Bales, who identified the sharing of group fantasies as a useful communication function and who observed the process by which group…

This bibliography covers alternative and augmentative communication and includes English-language citations for books, journal articles, and conference proceedings. The list contains over 400 citations, organized in alphabetical order by author, with references to publications dated from 1973 to 1986. Each bibliographic entry is coded for the…

The concept of private languages holds that each person's words are symbols with which he identifies certain of his perceptions. Language operates in the public sphere only so long as the symbols used by a speaker to denote his perceptions roughly correspond to the symbols the listener uses for his perceptions. The philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein…

Examines Jimmy Carter's addresses to the American people focusing on the symbolic form of his language, the conceptions of the audience, and the ethical dimensions of his words. (MH)

Identifies five types of metaphors typically associated with the idea of "freedom" and discusses how they have formed the ideological core of an uncompromising foreign policy. States that the prevailing idea that freedom is "fragile" must be modified to construct a more balanced conception of national security. (GEA)

Examination of the simplified characters adopted in the People's Republic of China shows that all such characters have been created based on phonetic, graphic or semantic principles. This paper discusses phonetic simplification and lists characters followed by their simpler forms. (CHK)

A report which describes a theory and corresponding model for the neural basis of language. A detailed functional description is given for elementary visual-linguistic processes. (Author)

Discusses the emergence and early development of symbolic functioning in children engaged in nonverbal, expressive activities. Concludes that symbolic functioning must be considered in the affective as well as cognitive sphere of development. Implications for educational practice and questions for further research are presented. (DP)