This book proposes a comprehensive discussion of the issue of linguistic feeling, the subject’s metalinguistic capacity to intuitively apprehend the normative – lexical, syntactic, morphological, phonological… – dimensions of a definite language he or she is acquainted with. The volume’s twelve contributions aim to revisit a concept that, through a fluctuating terminology (“Sprachgefühl,” “sentiment de la langue,” “linguistic intuitions,” etc.), had developed, since the late 18th century, within a variety of cultural contexts and research traditions, and whose theoretical, epistemological, and historical ins and outs had not been systematically explored so far. Beginning with a long opening chapter, the book consists of two parts, one tracing the multifaceted approaches to linguistic feeling from Herder to Wittgenstein, and one offering a representative overview of the debates about the issue at stake in current linguistics and philosophy, while addressing the question of the place of metacognition, normativity, and affectivity in language processes.
Author(s): David Romand, Michel Le Du
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 369
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Tables
1: Introduction
1 Research Traditions on Linguistic Feeling: An Overview and an Attempt at a Clarification
1.1 A Fluctuating Terminology and a Variety of Approaches
1.2 The German-Speaking Research Tradition on Sprachgefühl
1.3 New Insights from the History of Linguistics
1.4 The (Post-)Chomskyan Tradition: The Research Program on “Linguistic Intuitions”
1.5 The Notion of “Epilinguistic Activity”: Culioli’s Contribution
2 The Role of Linguistic Feeling in Language Processes and the Study of Language
2.1 Function and Typological Analysis of Linguistic Feeling
2.2 Linguistic Feeling and Linguistic Form
2.3 The Place and Status of Linguistic Feeling in the Scientific and Philosophical Study of Language
3 Properties, Nature, and Foundations of Linguistic Feeling
3.1 Chief Distinctive Marks of Linguistic Feeling
3.1.1 Linguistic Feeling Is an Intuitive Phenomenon
3.1.2 Linguistic Feeling Is a Metalinguistic Activity
3.1.3 Linguistic Feeling Tells Us Something About the Normative Dimension of Language
3.1.4 Linguistic Feeling Is at the Interface Between Consciousness and the Unconscious
3.1.5 Linguistic Feeling Is a Valenced Experiential Phenomenon
3.1.6 Linguistic Feeling Is a Ubiquitous Phenomenon of Linguistic Consciousness
3.2 Psychological Nature and Etiology of Linguistic Feeling
3.3 Linguistic Feeling as the Result of a Monitoring Process
3.3.1 Monitoring-Based Models of Sprachgefühl and Linguistic Intuitions
3.3.2 Criticisms of the Monitoring-Based Models of Linguistic Feeling
4 Toward a Psychoaffective Theory of Linguistic Feeling
4.1 Linguistic Feeling and the Issue of Affectivity: A Long-Lasting Problematic Relationship
4.2 Psychoaffective Trends in Current Research on Sprachgefühl and Linguistic Intuitions
4.3 Arguments in Favor of a Psychoaffective Conception of Linguistic Feeling
4.3.1 Linguistic Feeling Shares the Basic Psychological Features of Affective States
4.3.2 Epistemic Feelings Are a Good Candidate for Being the Chief Constituent Elements of Linguistic Feeling
4.4 What Kinds of Epistemic Feelings Might Linguistic Feeling Consist Of?
5 How the Present Volume Aims to Contribute to the Issue of Linguistic Feeling
References
Online Resources
Part I: Cross-disciplinary Approaches to Linguistic Feeling from Herder to Wittgenstein
2: “What the Germans Call Sprachgefühl.” Sprachgefühl in Early German Linguistics. Selected Examples of Ways of Understanding
1 History and Status of Sprachgefühl in German Linguistics
2 Sprachgefühl Before the Nineteenth Century
3 Joachim Heinrich Campe: Sprachgefühl and “the Laws of Reasonable Expression”
4 Sprachgefühl in Nineteenth-Century German Linguistics
4.1 Franz Bopp
4.2 Jacob Grimm
4.3 Wilhelm von Humboldt
4.4 August Schleicher
4.5 Hermann Paul
5 Conclusion
References
3: Assent, Sentiment and Linguistic Feeling in Jac. van Ginneken’s Psycholinguistics
1 Language and the Twin-Notions of “Assent” and “Feeling”
2 van Ginneken’s Model of Psyche
3 The Polysemy of Sentiment
4 Conclusions
References
4: On the Normative Side of Saussure’s “Linguistic Feeling”
1 Language as the Product of Intelligence and Will
2 Linguistic Feeling as the Basis of Morphology
3 The Paradoxical Status of Will in Language
4 Language as an Institution
5 Linguistic Diversity and the Ontogeny of Linguistic Feeling
6 Concluding Remarks: On the Philosophical Significance of the Linguist’s Illusio
References
5: Sapir’s Form-Feeling and its Historical Context
1 Patterns and the Form-Feeling
2 Patterns and Unconscious Groups
3 On the Origins of the Form-Feeling
4 The Psychoaffective Strand
5 Language as an Aesthetic Object
6 Sapir and Formalism
7 Conclusion
References
6: Edward Sapir: Form-Feeling in Language, Culture, and Poetry
1 Form-Feeling in Boasian Anthropology
2 Form-Feeling in Sapir’s Theory of Language
3 “Form (an Inner Striving) and Formalism (an Outer Obstacle)”
4 Conclusion
References
7: Meaning-Blindness, and Linguistic Feeling: Wittgenstein on How We “Experience” Meaning
1 Rules and Understanding
2 Aspect-Perception and Aspect-Blindness
3 “Experiencing” Meaning
4 Conclusion
References
Part II: Current Scientific and Philosophical Perspectives on Linguistic Feeling
8: Intuitions in Linguistics: A Blessing or a Curse?
1 Intuitions: What Are they?
2 Linguistic Intuitions
3 Chomsky’s View of Linguistic Intuitions
4 Linguistic Intuitions in the Line of Fire
4.1 Remnants of Behaviorism
4.2 Disbelief at Native Speakers’ Intuitions
4.3 Native Speakers’ Intuitions: Unsuitable as Linguistic Data
4.4 Intermediate Score
4.5 Expert Intuitions Rejected
5 Collateral Damage
6 Conclusion
References
9: The Good, the Bad, and the Yucky: Valenced Linguistic Intuitions and Linguistic Methodology
1 Intuitions in Linguistics: Their Nature and Justification
2 Normative Intuitions
3 From Normative Intuitions to Normativity in Language
References
10: Linguistic Feeling in Real Life and in Linguistics
1 Sprachgefühl in German, English, and Dutch
1.1 German
1.2 English
1.3 Dutch
2 Linguistic Feeling and the Linguistic System
2.1 Structuralism
2.2 Generative Grammar
3 General Human Behavior: Norms and Habits
4 Habits and Norms in Linguistics
5 Variation in Linguistic Feeling
5.1 Standardization
5.2 Attitudes
5.3 Linguistic Awareness
5.3.1 Culture
5.3.2 Literacy
5.3.3 Learning Other Languages
6 Conclusion
References
Online Resources
11: Linguistic Feeling and Grammaticalization: From Concepts to Case Studies
1 Sprachgefühl, Sentiment Linguistique, and Reanalysis: A Comparison
2 For a Broader Conception of Sentiment Linguistique
3 Examples in Morphology and Syntax
4 Conclusive Remarks
References
12: Linguistic Feeling: A Relational Approach Incorporating Epistemology, Theories of Language, and Human-Machine Interaction
1 The Relational Epistemological Basis for Linguistic Feeling: From Objectivism to Intersubjectivity
1.1 Integrating Emotion into Linguistic Epistemology: From Rationalism to Constructivism
1.1.1 Emotion Integration in the Epistemological Paradigm: From Rationalism to Its Critique
1.1.2 Integrating Emotion into Linguistic Ontology: From Realism to Relationalism
1.2 Integrating Emotion into Linguistic Methodology: From Objectivity to Co-construction
1.2.1 Integrating Emotion into the Methodological Paradigm: From Objective Analysis of Others to Intersubjective Co-construction of “Reality”
1.2.2 Integrating Emotions into the Conceptualizations of the Researcher: From Solipsism to Reciprocity
2 The Relational Basis in Linguistic Theory for Linguistic Feeling: From Monologue to Dialogue
2.1 Integrating Emotion in the Conceptual Dimension of the Body: From Mentalist Denial to Material Existence
2.1.1 Integrating Emotion into the Conceptualization of the Overall Linguistic Paradigm: From Emotion-Free Mentalist Monologue to Emotionally Permeated and Intersubjective Corporeal Dialogue
2.1.2 Integrating Emotion into the Conceptualization of the Linguistic Sign: From Emotion-Free Mentalist Symbols to Emotionally Marked Material Reality
2.2 Integrating Emotion in the Conceptual Dimension of Time: From Synchronism to Being In-process
2.2.1 Integrating Emotion into the Conceptualization of the Linguistic Subject: From Ahistorical Objects to Historical Subjects-in-Process
2.2.2 Integrating Emotion into the Conceptualization of Language Processing: From Cognitive Linearity to Emotional Recursivity
3 Human-Machine Interaction—Can Machines Be Relational?
3.1 Technology for Human-Machine Interaction
3.2 Fragmentation and Simplification Due to Converting Analog to Digital Signals
3.3 The Basis of Machine “Learning”
3.4 The Absence of Context and History from Automatic Speech and Language Processing
4 Conclusion: Linguistic Feeling as the Last Refuge of Being Human?
References
Online Resources
Index
