A Living Language: An Alternative Approach to Interpreting Social and Geopolitical Processes

Julija Korostenskaja

doi:10.5755/j01.sal.0.24.6232

Abstract

The aim of the present article is to lay the foundations for a methodology which could help account for the striking yet formally inexplicable phonetic and semantic similarities across languages. Grounding the present research in the mechanics of sound production, it is postulated that early language, as an immediate outcome of vocal vibrations produced by the humans, was primarily emotion-driven and consequently universal. It expressed generalized ideas, or archetypes, characterized by a certain conceptual load, which are still retained across various languages. A claim is made that the emotion-driven part of language vocabulary is hierarchical: it is composed of “major” archetypes, i.e. archetypes identifiable across a number of languages, and “minor” archetypes, i.e. groups of language-specific archetypal words sharing the same conceptual load. We then establish a set of criteria along which archetypal words may be identified. The proposed hypothesis may have a broad application in all social sciences, in particular, consulting, recruiting, making prospective solutions, and ultimately, the national identity and geopolitical self-determination of a given culture. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.0.24.6232

Highlights

At all times, the broad range of questions concerned with the relationship between language, thought, and reality has been an appealing field of inquiry for many an inquisitive mind
Grounding the present research in the mechanics of sound production, it is postulated that early language, as an immediate outcome of vocal vibrations produced by the humans, was primarily emotion-driven and universal
Archetypes, characterized by a certain conceptual load, which are still retained across various languages

Summary

Introduction

The broad range of questions concerned with the relationship between language, thought, and reality has been an appealing field of inquiry for many an inquisitive mind. A brief examination of the Dacia disambiguation page in WWW offers several geographical alternatives, the majority of which are either provinces, or villages (www.wikipedia.com, cf www.britannica.com, www.new worldencyclopedia.org; see Grumeza, 2009).We believe that the two words, the Romanian dacia and the Russian dacha are manifestations of the same archetype the conceptual load of which embraces the ideas of something undemanding, characterized by modest design and/or quality In this way, all semantic manifestations of sound vibrations produced by uttering the word dacia/dacha illustrate how the same conceptual load is reflected in different words of two or more different languages. What our analysis is primarily concerned with is an interpretation, which, as Ershova notes, while perceiving the sign as the bearer of the utmost meaning, is not protected by any proof system (2004 p. 95)

Conclusions

Avatar