Ways of Knowing

Language

• Huizinga argues that the richly realistic, over-decorated art and literature of the late medieval period were not the result of a flowering or flourishing, nor were they an affirmation of cultural confidence. 'Spiritually cowed' rather, they were the distraught activities of a community which lived in fear, in a state of constant anticipation of violence, spiritually cowed and politically coerced. In that world, individual experience was so bleak and fraught that the artistically gifted could only concentrate on drowning out the din of dark and dangerous day-to-day life. The pleasure their art gives us is that of a society on the brink of collapse and a culture on the wane.

Informative

• It is very important that you learn about traxoline. Traxoline is a new form of zionter. It is montilled in Cersitanna. The Ceristannians gristeriate large amounts of fevon and then bracter it into quasel traxoline. Traxoline may well be one of our most lukized snezlaus in the future because of our zionter lescelidge. (Judy Lanier)

1. What is traxoline2. Where is traxoline montilled?3. How is traxoline quasselled?4. Why is it important to know about traxoline?

Informative?

• It important about very that you is learn traxoline. Form Traxoline is of a new zionter. It montilled Cersitanna is in. The Ceristannians gristeriate amounts of large fevon and then it bracter quasel into traxoline. One Traxoline well be may of most our lukized snezlaus future in of zionter our lescelidge because.

ExpressiveSEASON of mists and mellow fruitfulness!

  Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

  With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

  And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

    To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

  With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

  For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

‘Language is a finite instrument crudely applied to an infinity of ideas…To say that this is a good bacon sandwich is only to say that by the criteria applied by like-minded lovers of bacon sandwiches, this one is worthy of approbation. The word good is reducible to other properties such as crisp, lean and unadulterated by tomato sauce. You will have seen at once that to a man who likes his bacon sandwiches underdone, fatty and smothered in ketchup, this would be a rather poor bacon sandwich.

Jumpers Tom Stoppard

Directive

Denotation and connotation

• Red Rose• Heart• Gold

• Freedom• Communism• Choice

• slim, scrawny, svelte, slight = ?

• youngster, child, kid, little one, small fry, brat, urchin, juvenile, minor = ?

Semiotics - Signs

•"A sign is the basic unit of language (a given language at a given time). Every language is a complete system of signs. Parole (the speech of an individual) is an external manifestation of language."

•"A linguistic system is a series of differences of sounds combined with a series of differences of ideas."

•"The connection between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary."

Ferdinand de Saussure 1857 -1913

• Some words do have meanings which are relatively easy to conceptualise, but we certainly do not have neat visual images corresponding to every word we say. Nor is there any guarantee that a concept which might come to mind when I use the word table is going to be the same as the one you, the reader, might bring to mind.

David Crystal

“Tree”

“Car”

“Chicken”

Reading the sign

Understanding the speaker

• Selection

• Emphasis

• Word choice

• Context

Understanding the speaker (2)

• Secondary meanings (connotations and euphemisms)

• Figures of speech (metaphor, metonymy, synechdoche)

• Ambiguity

• Lack of clarity (vagueness)

• Irony

Translation issues – inter-linguistic/cultural

• Gender• Register• Tone

• The untranslatable

• ‘local’ connotation / cultural issues

From an Irish Newspaper:

• TDs received €2.3m in expenses payments between June and September, despite the Dail being closed for 12 weeks.

• Figures published by the Houses of the Oireachtas reveal that between the beginning of June and the end of September, members claimed €2,303,138 between them.

• The figures also show that despite there being no committee hearings in August as well as no Dail sittings, the 163 members of the lower house claimed €575,000 in expenses.

• The top claimant between June and September was Fine Gael Cork South-West TD PJ Sheehan, who received €21,180. Mr Sheehan recently resigned as a party's deputy spokesman on Agriculture, after the Sunday Independent revealed that he was involved in a drunken incident with a female member of An Garda Siochana who claimed he threatened her when she prevented him from driving out of Leinster House.

http://uk.babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_txt

• Le demandeur supérieur entre juin et septembre était le sud-

ouest TD PJ Sheehan de liège de Fine Gael, qui a reçu

€21,180. M. Sheehan récemment démissionné comme party' ;

le porte-parole de député de s sur l'agriculture, après

l'indépendant de dimanche a indiqué qu'il a été impliqué dans

un incident ivre d'un membre féminin d'un Garda Siochana

qui l'a réclamé l'a menacée quand elle l'a empêché de chasser

de la Chambre de Leinster.

http://uk.babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_txt

• The higher applicant between June and September was

south-west TD PJ Sheehan of cork Gael Fine, which received

€21,180. Mr. Sheehan recently resigned like party; the

spokesperson of deputy of S on agriculture, after independent

of Sunday indicated; it was implied in a drunk incident a

female member one Kept Siochana which claimed;

threatened when it prevented from driving out Room of

Leinster.

When can it matter?

• Evidence at trial – Case of Derek Bentley ‘Let him have it, Chris‘

• Attributing blame– “the captain was sober ”

• Decision making– The Oracle of Delphi told Croesus that if he pursued the

war he would destroy a mighty kingdom.

And it matters when language is used to influence and persuade

• You are 80% less likely to die from a meteor landing on your head if you wear a bicycle helmet all day.

• Probably the best lager in the world.

• If you love your children, vote for Barack Obama.

• Dreams must be free to flee and fly high. No government, no legislature, has a right to limit your dreams. You should never agree to surrender your dreams.