Melodic Primitives and Semiosis

Abstract

This essay discusses the role played by melodic primitives in semiosis. Any melodic sound must be determined by pitch, duration, intensity and timbre, which are the minimal categories found in music. We propose an analysis of those primitives from two different points of view. In the first part of the article, we compare the role played by primitives in music and in language, as the phonological system of natural languages is also organized as a structure of minimal features. This comparison led us to understand some basic differences between music and language: melodic primitives present three characteristics that are absent from phonological primitives: grading, context-sensitivity and tensiveness. The second part of the article discusses the physics behind timbre, showing why it is not a distinctive category; rather it plays the role of a connotator (Hjelmslev). We conclude the essay by proposing that melodic features should be split into two overarching classes. The first one comprises the distinctive categories, namely pitch, duration and intensity, which are responsible for building up melodic utterances. The second class comprises just one element, timbre, which is responsible for building up the enunciation behind any melodic utterance. In the final section we advance a discussion that shows how this approach has shed light on the different ways meaning takes shape in music and language.