Prace komisji nauk.pdf - Instytut Filologii Angielskiej Uniwersytetu ...
Prace komisji nauk.pdf - Instytut Filologii Angielskiej Uniwersytetu ... Prace komisji nauk.pdf - Instytut Filologii Angielskiej Uniwersytetu ...
Scheme 1: the invisible hand intentional acts (causal) consequences explanandum ------------------------ ecological ------------------------ ------------------- conditions ------------------------ invisible hand process ------------------- ------------------------ ------------------- ------------------------ maxims micro level macro level The ecological conditions we can also call the pre-existing conditions, in the given example: the building, the court, the grass, the position of the entrances. The intentional acts have already been discussed: the crossings of the grass. The maxims we can also call the higher principles of behaviour, in the example: the need for economic behaviour, to achieve as much as possible at a cost as low as possible. These acts put an invisible hand process into action: given these acts it is necessary that gradually a path comes into being. The left side of the scheme, the intentional side, represents the intentional acts of individuals, the right side, the causal side, represents the invisible hand process proper. Communication Let me now give a linguistic example, one also given by Keller himself. It concerns the use of two German and also Dutch words: German englisch, Dutch engels, in the sense of “originating from England” and German englisch, Dutch engels in the sense of “angelic”. In Polish: angielski and anielski respectively. Two words with the same sounds but with clearly different meanings. 14
Homonymy is not a great problem in language use: misunderstandings are rare because context and situation have a disambiguating effect. But there are situations conceivable in which homonymy becomes a serious problem. Such a situation arose in Germany and the Netherlands in the 19 th century, when both words were used more frequently than before. The industrial revolution brought ever more products from England to the continent. In addition, the 19 th century is the period of Romanticism, in which, for example, people liked to compare beautiful and charming women with angels. In any case, there was from that time on a greater chance of misunderstandings. As a consequence, one of both words, namely englisch/engels in the sense of “angelic”, became rarer in language use than before to avoid misunderstandings, so much rarer, in fact, that young people acquiring their mother tongue did not hear and did not learn it any longer. It was as if an invisible hand removed the word from the language. We recognize the parts of the scheme. First the left side of it. The pre-existing conditions, the ecological conditions, are the existence of homonyms in the language, the industrial revolution, and Romanticism in culture; the maxim in question we can formulate as “avoid misunderstandings” (the principle of communication); the acts we have to think of are all those cases in which a possible misunderstanding was avoided. At the right side we have the invisible hand process: young people inevitably do not acquire one of the words any longer. Of course, it cannot be proved that the development took place as we have assumed, but we can imagine it. Keller speaks of conjectural history. It is not certain that the explanation is correct but is a plausible explanation. And what would be a better one? But there is still a question to be answered: why does englisch “anielski” disappear, why not englisch “angielski”? There is an answer, a plausible answer again: englisch “anielski” could easily replaced by other words, for instance German engelhaft, Dutch engelachtig: ihr engelhaftes 15
- Page 1 and 2: POLISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES WROCŁAW
- Page 3 and 4: Prace Komisji Nauk Filologicznych O
- Page 5: PRZEDMOWA Mamy zaszczyt przedstawi
- Page 8 and 9: II 18 maja 2008 roku Komisja Nauk F
- Page 10 and 11: JĘZYK WALIJSKI - UMIERAJĄCY CZY O
- Page 12 and 13: interested in everything that grows
- Page 16 and 17: Antlitz, haar engelachtig gelaat
- Page 18 and 19: Reduction is also a case of economy
- Page 20 and 21: produced. The children must guess a
- Page 22 and 23: The second example. The official Du
- Page 24 and 25: language. They preserve some words,
- Page 26 and 27: In general, the higher classes resi
- Page 28 and 29: past and especially ongoing changes
- Page 31 and 32: Izabela Białek Wrocław A linguist
- Page 33 and 34: On the nature of discourse The expl
- Page 35 and 36: - a system of principles (these pri
- Page 37 and 38: Moreover, based once again on the d
- Page 39 and 40: dialect as a regional or a social s
- Page 41 and 42: variation of language, namely, the
- Page 43 and 44: feature constituting the hunting so
- Page 45 and 46: great ignorance and an improper att
- Page 47 and 48: 61. leśniczy forester der Förster
- Page 49 and 50: 123. samura (dzik) ----------------
- Page 51 and 52: appears to be a fashionable hobby.
- Page 53: Wilkoń, Aleksander (1987) Typologi
- Page 56 and 57: poniewaŜ w analizie jakościowej,
- Page 58 and 59: manipulacji. Van Leeuwen (2005) wsk
- Page 60 and 61: Van Dijk, Teun A. (1993) “Princip
- Page 62 and 63: which, as culturally bound linguist
Homonymy is not a great problem in language use: misunderstandings are rare<br />
because context and situation have a disambiguating effect. But there are<br />
situations conceivable in which homonymy becomes a serious problem. Such a<br />
situation arose in Germany and the Netherlands in the 19 th century, when both<br />
words were used more frequently than before. The industrial revolution brought<br />
ever more products from England to the continent. In addition, the 19 th century<br />
is the period of Romanticism, in which, for example, people liked to compare<br />
beautiful and charming women with angels. In any case, there was from that<br />
time on a greater chance of misunderstandings. As a consequence, one of both<br />
words, namely englisch/engels in the sense of “angelic”, became rarer in<br />
language use than before to avoid misunderstandings, so much rarer, in fact, that<br />
young people acquiring their mother tongue did not hear and did not learn it any<br />
longer. It was as if an invisible hand removed the word from the language.<br />
We recognize the parts of the scheme. First the left side of it. The pre-existing<br />
conditions, the ecological conditions, are the existence of homonyms in the<br />
language, the industrial revolution, and Romanticism in culture; the maxim in<br />
question we can formulate as “avoid misunderstandings” (the principle of<br />
communication); the acts we have to think of are all those cases in which a<br />
possible misunderstanding was avoided. At the right side we have the invisible<br />
hand process: young people inevitably do not acquire one of the words any<br />
longer.<br />
Of course, it cannot be proved that the development took place as we have<br />
assumed, but we can imagine it. Keller speaks of conjectural history. It is not<br />
certain that the explanation is correct but is a plausible explanation. And what<br />
would be a better one? But there is still a question to be answered: why does<br />
englisch “anielski” disappear, why not englisch “angielski”? There is an answer,<br />
a plausible answer again: englisch “anielski” could easily replaced by other<br />
words, for instance German engelhaft, Dutch engelachtig: ihr engelhaftes<br />
15
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