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Expressives in Kam (Dong 侗): A study in sign typology (part 11)

Expressives in Kam (Dong 侗): A study in sign typology (part 11) Like many Austro-Tai languages and many Sino-Tibetan languages, Kam (Dong 侗) exhibits a wealth of descriptive syllables after the verb or the adjective. These syllables, henceforth called expressives , are typically reduplicated and cover a wide range of functions such as grading, speed and manner modification, and various kinds of sound symbolism, metaphor, etc. I propose to view the expressive compound as a sign: the predicate-head functions as the signified and the expressive as the signifier . In fact, since the predicate-head itself has the classical Saussurean sign anatomy, the head-expressive compound presents the case of a complex sign or what I call a second-order sign. The attested types of relationship that hold between the signified and signifier spread across almost the whole spectrum of sign species recognized in the literature. This paper is the result of a survey of ca 260 expressives and is one of the achievements of a long-term Kam dictionary project. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale / Oriental Languages and Linguistics Brill

Expressives in Kam (Dong 侗): A study in sign typology (part 11)

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright 2005 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0153-3320
eISSN
1960-6028
DOI
10.1163/19606028-90000134
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Like many Austro-Tai languages and many Sino-Tibetan languages, Kam (Dong 侗) exhibits a wealth of descriptive syllables after the verb or the adjective. These syllables, henceforth called expressives , are typically reduplicated and cover a wide range of functions such as grading, speed and manner modification, and various kinds of sound symbolism, metaphor, etc. I propose to view the expressive compound as a sign: the predicate-head functions as the signified and the expressive as the signifier . In fact, since the predicate-head itself has the classical Saussurean sign anatomy, the head-expressive compound presents the case of a complex sign or what I call a second-order sign. The attested types of relationship that hold between the signified and signifier spread across almost the whole spectrum of sign species recognized in the literature. This paper is the result of a survey of ca 260 expressives and is one of the achievements of a long-term Kam dictionary project.

Journal

Cahiers de Linguistique Asie Orientale / Oriental Languages and Linguistics – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 2005

Keywords: Tai-Kadai; Karo; semantics; semiotics; expressives; onomatopoeia

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