1,115 Matching Annotations
  1. Mar 2017
    1. [dessiner]

      I like the inclusion of the original French words throughout this piece, because I think they add more depth and dimension to Derrida's argument. For instance, "dessiner" can be translated into English as "depict" but it's more direct translation is "draw." I'm actually curious if the inclusion of the original French was something that Derrida insisted upon in the English version (and that's just me assuming that he wrote this text in his native French...) or whether that was an decision made by the editor(s) of this version? Anyway, these alternative French words and their alternative definitions/English translations have got me thinking here about Byron's earlier annotation, when he undertook defining polysemy...

    1. Res ear ch often isolates particular pieces of the complex puzzle in order to study them in detail. However useful this may be, it obscures the dynamism of the actual teaching and learning work that goes on, and cannot show the emergent and contingent nature of that work

      So is one example of this the teaching of vocabulary and grammar out of context of authentic reading and conversation?

    2. There must be room in a learning environment for a variety of expressions of agency to flourish.

      Love this.

    3. However, in order to make significant progress, and to make enduring strides in terms of setting objectives, pursuing goals and moving towards lifelong learning, learners need to make choices and employ agency in more self-direct ed ways.

      This is just what Naoko is doing by allowing students to choose their topics of research within the context of a language learning course.

    4. Agency is therefore a central concept in learning, at many levels an in many manifestations. It is a more general and more profound concept than the closely related terms autonomy, motivation and investment. One might say that autonomy, motivation and investment are in a sense products (or manifestations) of a person’s agency.

      Interesting.

    5. the multilayered nature of interaction and language use, in all their complexity and as a network of interdependencies among all the elements in the setting, not only at the social level, but also at the physical and symbolic level

      Does this map to literary theory in any way?...

    6. any utterance can carry several layers of meaning

      And all those layers can be visualized through annotation: vocabulary, cultural context...

    7. “layer ed simultaneity.”

      Love that phrase.

    8. I like to use this image to illustrate that any utterance has a number of layers of meaning. It refers not only to the here and now, but also to the past and the future of the person or persons involved in the speech event, to the world around us, and to the identity that the speaker projects.

      Wow. Annotation fits quite nicely here as helping to visualize these layers in a slightly more user-friendly way than Escher.

    9. and they are dynamic and emergent, never finished or absolute.

      Come on, "not-yet-ness" (Collier).

    10. ecologically valid contexts, relationships, agency, motivation and identity.
    11. ecological perspective,

      Everything is inter-related. Language cannot be learned out of context, out of community.

  2. www.folgerdigitaltexts.org www.folgerdigitaltexts.org
    1. “Give FTLN 0097 me,” quoth I. FTLN 0098 “Aroint thee, witch,” the rump-fed runnion cries.

      as the witch asks for some chestnuts. the well fed lady screams go away witch

    1. Willkommen in diesem B1 Sprach- und Kulturkurs Deutsch!  Dieser Kurs ist für alle diejenigen offen, die sich für die deutsche Sprache und Kultur interessieren (kann in Kanada oder anderswo in der Welt sein). Teilnehmende werden notwendige Einsichten in das (Uni-)Leben in Deutschland und anderen deutschsprachigen Ländern bekommen. Sie müssen also gar nicht nach Deutscland fahren, um zu erleben, wie sich Deutschland anfühlt.Vision: Dieser Kurs möchte Lernern mit beschränktem Zugang eine kostengünstige Alternative zum Deutschlernen auf B1-Niveau anbieten.Für Wen: Interessenten jeder Art, die einen Studienaufenthalt in Deutschland planen oder sich generell für das Leben in Deutschland heute interessieren. Übergreifendes Ziel des Kurses: Eine aktive Gemeinschaft von Deutschlernenden bilden, deren Mitglieder sich mithilfe nützlicher Webtools auch über Länder- und Zeitgrenzen hinweg selbstständig dem Deutschlernen widmen können.Kursdauer: 10-12 WochenWöchentlicher Arbeitsaufwand: 3-5 StundenKurskommunikation zwischen Kursleitung und KursteilnehmendenRegelmäßige Umfragen an Studenten, um Bedürfnisse der Teilnehmenden zu erfassenLernstandsmessung: Eine Kombination aus automatisiertem Feedback und persönlichen Kommentaren der Kursleitung Kursmaterialien: alle verwendeten Materialien sind kostenfrei im Internet zugänglich und von jederman nutzbar (OER)Kursbuch: Deutsch im Blick. Online German Course Components including textbook/ audio/ video/ etc. CC-BY-NC-ND: UT Austin. Available: http://coerll.utexas.edu/dib/ 

      This course caters to all people interested in learning German (in Canada or other parts of the world). Participants in this course will gain an insight into so (university) life in Germany and the German-speaking countries. You won't have to be there to still see what Germany feels like!

      Intended Audience: Informal students or faculty/ instructors planning a study visit to Germany or people interested in (uni) life in Germany

      High-level Course Goal: Build a community of learners of German and provide its members with valuable insights into webtools and open study content, so that the learners can then continue learning German independently after this course.

      Length of Course: 10-12 weeks Weekly study time for students: 3-5 hours Communication of instructor with students: General feedback on collaborative activities on a weekly basis (private speaking lessons with one-on-one practice sessions can be arranged for a fee) Track students’ happiness with individual module surveys Assessment: Automated Feedback or General Feedback to community at the end of weekly modules Materials used: all materials and tools used for language learning activities are either Open Educational Resources (OER) or otherwise freely available resources on the internet Course Book: Deutsch im Blick. Online German Course Components including textbook/ audio/ video/ etc. CC-BY-NC-ND: UT Austin. Available: http://coerll.utexas.edu/dib/

    2. (Uni)-Leben in Deutschland: Ein Deutschkurs auf B1-Niveau

      (Uni) Life in Germany: A German Language Course on the B1 Level

    1. He had a working analysis of mankind’s troubles: marriage, money and the tangles of human ties. Long practice had sharpened his perception. Within five minutes he understood what was wrong. He charged three pies per question and never opened his mouth till the other had spoken for at least ten minutes, which provided him enough stuff for a dozen answers and advices. When he told the person before him, gazing at his palm, ‘In many ways you are not getting the fullest results for your efforts, ’ nine out of ten were disposed to agree with him. Or he questioned: ‘Is there any woman in your family, maybe even a distant relative, who is not well disposed towards you?’ Or he gave an analysis of character: ‘Most of your troubles are due to your nature. How can you be otherwise with Saturn where he is? You have an impetuous nature and a rough exterior.’ This endeared him to their hearts immediately, for even the mildest of us loves to think that he has a forbidding exterior.

      What can you say about the Astrologer's prediction? What does the language reveal about his craft?

    1. genius loci

      protective spirits of a location

    2. cribe and influence human motives

      Language as action, not just description; rhetoric is not only reflective, but also integral to formation and motivation. Interesting to think about when considering Burke's historical context i.e. the early 20th century was marred by intensely violent acts such as wars, revolution, and genocide. Perhaps the physical omnipresence of violence contributed to a conceptualization of words as a kind of violence.

  3. Feb 2017
    1. Of Rhetoric various definitions have been given by different writers;

      For since sounds are voluntary and indifferent signs of any ideas, a man may use what words he pleases to signify his own ideas to himself: and there will be no im-perfection in them, if he constantly use the same sign for the same idea: for then he cannot fail of having his meaning understood, wherein consists the right use and perfection of language (Locke, 817).

      Makes me think back to the subjectivity of what rhetoric and language can be; as long as one person believes it to be true, then it must be true

    1. line between written and spoken rhetoric was indistinct

      Thinking back to Sheridan, who would probably disagree: "But tho' all who are blest with the gift of speech, by constantly associating the ideas of articulate sounds, to those characters which they see on paper, come to imagine that there is a necessary connection between them, and that the one, is merely a symbol of the other; yet, that it is in itself, a manner of communication entirely different, and utterly independent of the other..."

      Further down in the paragraph it is suggested that this blurred line between written and spoken rhetoric could possibly be attributed to Douglass' blending of African, European, and American cultural elements, beyond just necessary last-minute additions of antislavery tracts. Could it then be because of Sheridan's homogenous rhetorical background that he believed written and spoken word to be distinct?

    1. Away before me to sweet beds of flowers. Love thoughts lie rich when canopied with bowers.

      Poetic - Blank verse, ending with a rhyming couplet. His language about Olivia is generally very well crafted and deliberate. There is a hint therefore of artificiality.

    2. liver, brain, and heart,

      Use of metonymy. Orsino is asking for everything of Olivia - Hyperbole. http://digilander.libero.it/mgtund/elizabethan_beliefs.htm

    1. The first step in testing claims of conspiracy is to establish precisely what is being claimed

      "Accordingly, in all tongues, perhaps without exception, the ordinary terms, which are considered as literally expressive of the latter [material subjects], are also used promiscuously to denote the former [spiritual subjects]." - Campbell

    1. o close is the connex-ion between thoughts, and the words in which they arc clothed.

      The distinct, even though here tightly connected, between words and things.

    2. nd when they rise, of themselves, from the subject, without being sought after.

      As though any stylistic choices just float to the surface of language, rather than existing as the product of real work and thought on the part of the author? I could buy into an argument that such "ornamentation" comes more easily/naturally to some authors than others, but this phrasing seems to imply that artful language is the product of beauty from the thing itself, as though it is truth shining through. (Which, to be clear, I think is bullshit.)

    1. The term, I own, is rather modem, but is nevertheless conve-nient, as it fills a vacant room, and doth not, like most of our newfangled words, justlc out older and worthier occupants, to the no small detriment of the language.

      Lol. Why do I get the feeling that Campbell would be one of those Baby Boomers who angrily tweets about how Millennials are whiners and snowflakes and brunch-loving degenerates who are ruining all that is good and holy in the world with their "newfangled" technology; I can just picture him being appalled by my use of "lol" and how it's usage is a great detriment to language. Which actually brings me to an earlier ~debate~ between myself and Kevin about the "associative meanings" behind words in regards to their origins. How have modernity and, as Campbell says, convenience shaped language today, and have shortened words like "Lol" or "Tbh" or "Lmao" increased or decreased in their intended meaning? For instance, do we actually "Laugh out loud" when we say "Lol" or has that old meaning disassociated itself from the word and been supplanted by something else? And do we think that we are overlooking worthier occupants in our vocabulary? And how do emojis fit in to this whole picture? (Poor Campbell is probably rolling over in his grave...) Also I'm realizing just now that this is a little off topic sorry someone plz bring me back to center.

    2. In propriety there cannot be such a thing as an universal grammar, unless there were such a thing as an universal language.

      Even if there was a universal language, would it avoid the problem of humans applying disparaging meanings to words, as suggested by Locke? Locke suggests that even those who speak the same tongue do not fully comprehend one another because individuals apply different meanings to the same word based on feelings, background, culture, etc.

    1. desires, like fell and cruel hounds

      Conceit - a clever, and surprising way of using figurative language. This gives the speech not only a poetic, but scholarly quality.

    2. t instant was I turned into a hart,

      Language is elevated through mythological allusions. The allusion also suggests that Olivia has a high status of a goddess.

    1. she could see the yellow billows spread like gasor dreams between kids’ legs.

      How is the language on one hand innocently childish, and yet for an adult reader somewhat disturbing?

    1. Knowledge itself is independent of language

      Makes me think of the Jungle Book. One of our brilliant teacher's rants: How the hell does Mowgli know/understand the concept of language?

    2. Complex ideas are not universal, as .. we can see by the difficulties of translating from one language to another.

      Rhetoric is already complicated enough, and I was only viewing it through an English lens up until this point. Thinking about how rhetoric influences other linguistic interpretations of a thought/feeling/idea/opinion, and how other linguistic practices that incorporate cultural differences in turn influenced the development of rhetoric makes my brain hurt.

    1. i"\ o~..l."'1 ~.Cf'\lc:,.e( ol11~&.1.U1~~J \ '-'-'\-~~ Q ~4....,t. ~e:cr.·u.s.

      In it's own way, the body also engages in rhetoric. I find it interesting that Austin tried to document it in such a visual manner, although the execution was... meh.

    1. narrow conception which we have of it; and therefore are wholly confined to the knowledge and use of words:

      From what I remember in History of English Language, language has been defined more broadly since Sheridan's day, if language was really strictly defined to words. I think language is now considered as a system of intentional, conventional signs. Unfortunately, animals and the "melancholy mournings of the turtle" (shoutout to kpolizzi and gilmanhernandez) are not considered language within this definition. This reading and the definition of language from the HOEL textbook by Algeo both heavily emphasized oral-aural communication, so I'm curious about the deaf community's perspective on language. Also I was definitely not expecting to bring up disability as much as I have been; I can try to limit my annotations on that subject.

  4. Jan 2017
    1. who have scarce any standing rule to regulate themselves and their notions by, in such arbitrary ideas.

      There is a strong moral component here in Locke's thinking about language.

    2. philosophy is to improve languag

      From what I've read so far, it seems that for Locke improvement in language means that language would more accurately convey knowledge. But I also wonder about how language changes over time. Language has certainly changed over time; for example, there are many new terms because of computer technology and social media. Language changes because of cultural/technological context, but it seems that no amount of change in language can remove language's distance from reality (language represents ideas which represent the essence of things).

    3. Now, since sounds have no natural connection with our ideas, but have all their signification from the arbitrary imposition \ l .;.s.~l' of men,

      I always thought the most helpful evidence (that was once pointed out to me) that sound-symbols are arbitrary is proof that even onomatopoeia varies from language to language. So even the sounds that we claim represent most directly are not necessarily similar from language to language. Here are some good examples:

      http://mentalfloss.com/article/51996/12-onomatopoeias-around-world

      https://vimeo.com/25215616

      (This video is also interesting in that the more complex the animal's sound, the more dramatically onomatopoetic words vary from language to language. A cat's "meow" sounds almost the same in any language, whereas there are many different ways of representing a dog's bark, or a rooster's crow. I guess "meow" is the closest humanity can get to non-arbitrary language. Meow = Truth???)

    1. Paleo

      It seems really provocative to study rhetoric before ancient Greece; it's certainly something I had never heard of, not that that is saying much. Also, I've only encountered materiality and rhetoric in regards to modern technology, so it's really interesting to trace this back waaaay before computers and even books. It's also interesting that this is a time when there wasn't a written, standard language. Other articles for this week discussed delivery and body language, but uses of some sort of standard language was always a focus, so going all the way back to the Paleolithic really stretches the boundaries of rhetoric in an exciting way.

  5. Nov 2016
    1. Spanish he/she has a wide range of options in job opportunities after the completion of graduation. Spanish major is really very helpful for the students as it provides them with a greatly enriched view of the entire world around them. It is helpful to them because it also provides them with the best Spanish language skills which are really important in many professional occupations.

    1. Today English is the most commonly used, i.e. spoken, written and listened language, making it extremely popular all around the world. In many countries, it has become the second official language, as they have understood the importance of it in the modern context. http://blog.selectmytutor.co.uk/top-10-books-on-english-language/

  6. Oct 2016
    1. Quando fiam uti chelidon

      Translates to: “When shall I be as the swallow?” This is referring to Philomela (daughter of Pandion, King of Athens). In the story, she was transformed into a nightingale or something like that.

    2. Datta. Dayadhvam. Damyata.

      Datta: give/giving

      Dayadhvam: compassion/be compassionate

      Damyata: control/self-control

    3. DA

      "Da" in German is similar to the English word "there." It is also used to mean "being present," not just as a location pointer. It was originally "there" as in "not here" but as all words' meanings morph over time, it can now also mean "then." So "Da" as a word occupies a space and a time.

    4. Shantih     shantih     shantih

      There is peace in the rubbish. (Spelling?)

    1. This means that teachers spend a lot of time adapting and creating their own materials

      they teach their 2nd lang

    2. Often the teachers in these programs are second-language learners themselves

      even adults teaching english isn't 1st lang. so they are learning as they teach

    3. bring languages into our schools—our Native languages and many more; it spreads our language around

      its true they need to preserve the languages so more ppl learn it and so it won't die

    4. allowing it to offer dual-language instruction

      offering more instruction=more children to learn

  7. Sep 2016
  8. online.salempress.com.lacademy.idm.oclc.org online.salempress.com.lacademy.idm.oclc.org
    1. There are also a variety of magazines available in El Salvador, in both Spanish and English.

      This is pretty good for salvadorians who want to practice their english, if they are choosing to learn it. It is also nice for the visiting americans, to read the news if they can't read/speak spanish.

    2. 95 percent of Salvadorans.

      thats a pretty large poplation...

    3. Spanish is the official language of El Salvador. Among the more educated, English is the most common second language.

      If u were to visit El Salvador, this would be very useful seeming English is the most common second language. It would be a good idea to learn some Spanish survival sayings first though.

    1. language or customs.

      these are examples of explicit culture. Something in a culture that you can't actually touch or feel but helps you learn about the culture for example language and traditions.

  9. Aug 2016
    1. There's also the political. I was always bothered by the fact that the first person singular pronoun is capitalized in english - i always thought it was quite self-righteous. Or, as Douglas Adams noted, "Capital letters were always the best way of dealing with things you didn't have a good answer to." Ever since i was a kid, i was told that the world does not revolve around me, yet our written culture is telling me something entirely different. Why not capitalize 'we' or 'they'? (Yes, i love the work of bell hooks.)
    1. There are technical, scientific, and cultural factors that are instructive in exploring why humans, and Earth as currently constructed, aren’t well-suited to having a universal language.
  10. Jul 2016
    1. Translation apps continue to leave much to be desired.

      Cue Roman Jakobson. In a way, by giving the illusion of mutual understanding, these apps exacerbate the problem. Also, because they do the worst job with rich language work (nuance, subtlety, wordplay, polysemy, subtext…) they encourage a very “sterile” language which might have pleased Orwell like it pleases transhumanists, but which waters down what makes language worth speaking.

    2. what is the English-speaking world missing out on by not reading the content written in other languages

      Though he’s been associated with a very strange idea he never had, Edward Sapir was quite explicit about this loss over a hundred years ago. Thinking specifically about a later passage warning people about the glossocide English language. But it’s been clear in his work from long before that excerpt that we’re missing out when we focus on a single language.

    3. the voice of the rest of the world
    4. a handful in a few major world languages

      One might think that those other languages are well-represented. People connected with the Open Knowledge Foundation are currently tackling this very issue. Here, Open Education isn’t just about content.

    1. De ce point de vue, il n'est pas nécessaire d'argumenter longuement sur ces dispositions car le convergence des structures de productivité peut produire des miracles et agrémenter le soutien du jeu des stratégies des forces en présence.

  11. Jun 2016
  12. www.nybooks.com www.nybooks.com
    1. “When I use a word,” Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, “it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”
    1. And because it’s built to take full advantage of iPad, it’s a first-of-its-kind learning experience.

      Sure, we’ve heard that before. But there’s reason to be cautiously optimistic about this one.

    1. Prescriptivists dislike the use of “impact” as a verb

      Glad Anglophone prescriptivists aren’t having their way. If they did, chances are that the language would have a similar fate to German as a colonial language. Chances are that a predilection for normative language has greatly impacted language insecurity among Francophones.

  13. Apr 2016
    1. seemeth

      This is an archaic use of the -eth suffix for third-person indicative. This faded from usage during the Middle and Early Modern English periods.

  14. Jan 2016
    1. “participation architectures.”

      I much prefer this nomenclature especially since it allows me to add Christopher Alexander to the mix. He argued that there are machine systems and growing systems. Or perhaps we can think of the distinction as between engineered and rhizomatic? Or using James Scott's terms: legible v illegible.

    1. Linguistic intelligence is how well you’re able to use language. It’s a kind of skill that poets have, other kinds of writers; journalists tend to have linguistic intelligence, orators.

      I guess I do have a prejudice for this one. Don't all people use language to learn, reason, argue, and communicate, no matter their discipline or field?

    1. Here’s what the Finns, who don’t begin formal reading instruction until around age 7, have to say about preparing preschoolers to read: “The basis for the beginnings of literacy is that children have heard and listened … They have spoken and been spoken to, people have discussed [things] with them … They have asked questions and received answers.”
  15. Dec 2015
    1. The Book of Human Emotions, Tiffany Watt Smith

      Emotions are not just biological, but cultural. Different societies have unique concepts for combinations of feelings in particular circumstances.

      If you know a word for an emotion, you can more easily recognize it, control it -- and perhaps feel it more intensely.

      Emotions and how they are valued also varies across time as well as space. Sadness was valued in Renaissance Europe: they felt it made you closer to God. Today we value happiness, and we may value it too much. Emodiversity is the idea that feeling a wide range of emotions is good for you mentally and physically.

    1. This could be the first time we can talk with empirical evidence about language requiring innate components or not.

  16. Nov 2015
    1. I don't totally agree with the fact that writers the creation of language is the target of a writer, I think language is just a means, the "algorithm" that "plays" with words/semanthincs, as any machine can do

  17. Jul 2015
  18. Jun 2015
    1. capacity of words to activate the senses

      This makes me think of David Abram's The Spell of the Sensuous, an exploration of the sensuous foundations of language.

  19. May 2015
    1. Other attachments matter for rhetoric

      I wonder about the relationship between "attachment" and sensation. Could one become attached without sensing the attachment? And is attachment rhetorical: is it like a language, even if it is not (only) epistemic?

    1. There are good reasons for writing.

      Here I start to wonder about "translating" sensory perceptions into (written) language; namely, are we ever not doing that.

  20. Apr 2015
  21. Dec 2014
    1. his grammar feud

      Yeah, grammar marmism is rampant in our worlds. Some people mistake language for a machine when it is really a joshua tree or a redwood or some kind of fungus. The only disease that would kill language would be the evolution of telepathy and I don't think that would do it. To adapt Johnny Paycheck: take your rules Mr. Heller and shove 'em.

  22. Nov 2014
    1. This deck contains all must-have basic Esperanto rootwords as suggested by the editorial team of the magazine Kontakto.

      That sounds good. I aim to get fluent this semester!

  23. Oct 2014
  24. Mar 2014
    1. Hdt. 2.2. The Nature vs. Nurture enigma is presented here. It is advocated here that language is biologically programmed here and thus language is a nature phenomenon. However, the nature v. nurture debate has become bane in the field of psychology. Do the lengths or widths make a rectangle?

  25. Feb 2014
    1. What intrigued me when I first walked into Neil’s living room was the concept of a collaboration- driven ethos , although at the time I had no idea what those words mean

      collaboration-driven ethos

    1. The intended readers (all twelve of them) can de- co de the formal presentation, detect the new idea hidden in lemma 4, ignore the routine and uninteresting calculations of lemmas 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, and see what the author is doing and why he do es it. But for the noninitiate, this is a cipher that will never yield its secret.
  26. Nov 2013
    1. We have seen how it is originally language which works on the construction of concepts, a labor taken over in later ages by science.

      We take a turn here to see how deceptive language can be. It's power to persuade by verbiage, not just by what is being said.

    2. Just as it is certain that one leaf is never totally the same as another, so it is certain that the concept "leaf" is formed by arbitrarily discarding these individual differences and by forgetting the distinguishing aspects.

      A 'snowflake' sort of ideal applied to other words... but a valid point. Our language is imperfect, inaccurate, and vague- every time I read through Nietzche I come around to his thought process a little more.

    3. In the same way that the sound appears as a sand figure, so the mysterious X of the thing in itself first appears as a nerve stimulus, then as an image, and finally as a sound. Thus the genesis of language does not proceed logically in any case, and all the material within and with which the man of truth, the scientist, and the philosopher later work and build, if not derived from never-never land, is a least not derived from the essence of things.

      It's fascinating to consider how if our language had been constructed differently... based on, somehow, a logical reasoning of stimuli... mankind would think entirely differently.

    4. This creator only designates the relations of things to men, and for expressing these relations he lays hold of the boldest metaphors

      It would be hard to imagine human language without a humanocentric bent, but a completely fair point nonetheless.

    5. we believe that we know something about the things themselves when we speak of trees, colors, snow, and flowers; and yet we possess nothing but metaphors for things--metaphors which correspond in no way to the original entities

      And this is exactly what linguists are talking about when they say that words are simply symbols for the things that they represent

    6. This creator only designates the relations of things to men, and for expressing these relations he lays hold of the boldest metaphors

      I can understand his reasoning in this statement. Our language describes the world and things around us in relation to mankind. Kind of ego-centrical if you think about it

    7. Is language the adequate expression of all realities

      Great question, and I think the answer is 'no'. Each language has it's own restrictions in expressing certain ideas, emotions, or situations. I definitely think that there are boundaries that can confine our expression in any language

    8. In the same way that the sound appears as a sand figure, so the mysterious X of the thing in itself first appears as a nerve stimulus, then as an image, and finally as a sound. Thus the genesis of language does not proceed logically in any case, and all the material within and with which the man of truth, the scientist, and the philosopher later work and build, if not derived from never-never land, is a least not derived from the essence of things.

      I'm not sure exactly what he is trying to say here. Is he saying that while language is not pulled from out of know where, words and language are built upon connections to other words instead of the intrinsic nature of a thing?

    9. The "thing in itself" (which is precisely what the pure truth, apart from any of its consequences, would be) is likewise something quite incomprehensible to the creator of language and something not in the least worth striving for. This creator only designates the relations of things to men, and for expressing these relations he lays hold of the boldest metaphors.

      Language vs. Truth

    10. dissolve an image into a concept.

      Do we lose something in this dissolution?

    11. but we do know of countless individualized and consequently unequal actions which we equate by omitting the aspects in which they are unequal and which we now designate as "honest" actions.

      Well, how else are people supposed to function in a real world? Nothing's constant, so all we can do is make assumptions and generalizations in an attempt to make sense of our surroundings

    12. and yet we possess nothing but metaphors for things--metaphors which correspond in no way to the original entities

      definition of language

    13. copy

      Implies that the sound is, somehow, directly related to the perception of something?

    14. And besides, what about these linguistic conventions themselves? Are they perhaps products of knowledge, that is, of the sense of truth? Are designations congruent with things? I

      I wanted to highlight "Is language the adequate expression of all realities?"

      Without language, what exists?

      If deception is only deception because of a negative result, is deception without a negative result still deception?

    15. The various languages placed side by side show that with words it is never a question of truth, never a question of adequate expression; otherwise, there would not be so many languages

      We are only continually approximating out thoughts, not fully communicating

    1. There are two universal, general gifts be-stowed by nature upon man, Reason and Speech; dialectic is the theory of the former, grammar and rhetoric of the latte

      Language is probably the greatest tool human kind has. Reasoning exists in many animals, but extensive communication networks and language is ours! Also, poor use of the word "Universal" here. If it was a universal gift, it would be for everyone and not just man.

  27. Oct 2013
    1. as infants cannot learn to speak except by learning words and phrases from those who do speak

      Read some Chompsky. Language is an internal process. The Language Instinct from Pinker is good, too.

    2. the rules which are laid down in the art of oratory could not have been observed, and noted, and reduced to system, if they had not first had their birth in the genius of orators

      Early study of a language needed.

    1. Language is based on reason, antiquity, authority, custom. It is analogy, and sometimes etymology, that affords the chief support to reason. A certain majesty, and, if I may so express myself, religion, graces the antique.

      beautiful

    1. Foreign words, like men, and like many of our institutions, have come to us, I might almost say, from all nations.

      Language is formed on complex interactions and has many histories, especially English. It cannot be classified as our language and other language because these so often overlap

    1. uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences

      "in oratory the very cardinal sin is to depart from the language of everyday life, and the usage approved by the sense of the community." - Cicero, De Oratore

    1. The foundation of good style is correctness of language, which falls under five heads. (1) First, the proper use of connecting words, and the arrangement of them in the natural sequence which some of them require. For instance, the connective "men" (e.g. ego men) requires the correlative "de" (e.g. o de). The answering word must be brought in before the first has been forgotten, and not be widely separated from it; nor, except in the few cases where this is appropriate, is another connective to be introduced before the one required. Consider the sentence, "But as soon as he told me (for Cleon had come begging and praying), took them along and set out." In this sentence many connecting words are inserted in front of the one required to complete the sense; and if there is a long interval before "set out," the result is obscurity. One merit, then, of good style lies in the right use of connecting words. (2) The second lies in calling things by their own special names and not by vague general ones. (3) The third is to avoid ambiguities; unless, indeed, you definitely desire to be ambiguous, as those do who have nothing to say but are pretending to mean something.

      Use of language in good style.

    1. People do not feel towards strangers as they do towards their own countrymen, and the same thing is true of their feeling for language. It is therefore well to give to everyday speech an unfamiliar air: people like what strikes them, and are struck by what is out of the way.

      Style. Use language people recognize and understand.

  28. Sep 2013
    1. The power of discourse stands in the same relation to the soul's organization as the pharmacopoeia does to the physiology of bodies.

      This is an important sentiment, one that we might see repeating in other readings. In what ways is language a drug? In what ways does language intoxicate or heal?