Language and its Functions

A historico-critical study of views concerning the functions of language from the pre-humanistic philology of Orleans to the rationalistic philology of Bopp

Translated by Paul Salmon in consultation with Anthony J. Klijnsmit

HardboundAvailable
ISBN 9789027245724 (Eur) | EUR 150.00
ISBN 9781556196218 (USA) | USD 225.00
 
e-Book
ISBN 9789027284372 | EUR 150.00 | USD 225.00
 
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When Pieter Verburg (1905-1989) published Taal en Functionaliteit in 1952, the work was received with admiration by linguistic scholars, though the number of those who could read the Dutch text for themselves remained limited. The title alludes to the theories of linguistic function set out in 1936 by Karl Bühler, but Verburg regards the three functions of discourse — focussing respectively on the speaker, the person addressed and the matter discussed — as no more than sub-functions of the human function of speech. His central concern is to explore the relationships between thought and language, and language and reality; and the work sets out to provide a historical analysis of views on these relationships in the period 1100 to 1800.
The great strength of the work lies in the way in which the views of language are related to contemporaneous moves in philosophy and science, contrasting essentially the mediaeval acceptance of authority, the beginnings of induction in the Renaissance, the dependence of early rationalism on calculation based on axiomatic truths, and the further development of independent observation. All these trends are reflected in the way men thought about language, as well as in the way they used it.
Much has been written on the history of linguistics since this book was written, but it still offers a unique view of the development of thinking about language.
Publishing status: Available
Table of Contents
“This edition not only makes V's classic study of linguistic historiography available in English but also includes interesting contextual information about the work, such as a bibliographical sketch [...], an introductory essay by the translator.”
Cited by (5)

Cited by five other publications

de Vries, Lourens
2018. Newton Goes East: Natural Philosophy in the First Malay Grammar (1736) and the First Malay Bible (1733). The Bible Translator 69:2  pp. 214 ff. DOI logo
Idumwonyi, Itohan Mercy & Ijeweimen Solomon Ikhidero
2016. The Dynamics of Language Politics in Religious Expression in African Indigenous Churches. In Indigenous Language Media, Language Politics and Democracy in Africa,  pp. 195 ff. DOI logo
Lennon, Brian
2014. The Digital Humanities and National Security. differences 25:1  pp. 132 ff. DOI logo
Klijnsmit, Anthony J.
Rutten, Gijsbert
2004. Lambert ten Kate and Justus-Georg Schottelius. Historiographia Linguistica 31:2-3  pp. 277 ff. DOI logo

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Subjects

Main BIC Subject

CF: Linguistics

Main BISAC Subject

LAN009000: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General
ONIX Metadata
ONIX 2.1
ONIX 3.0
U.S. Library of Congress Control Number:  98035929 | Marc record