Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Universität Bremen Fachbereich 10
Wolfgang Wildgen (University of Bremen)
Minimal syntax:
Comparison of meaning construction
in everyday compounds and
compounds in experimental poetry
(Paul Celan)
Winter symposium Aarhus (DK)
29 -30.1.2007
Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Universität Bremen Fachbereich 10
Part I
Linguistic and neuro-cognitive
prerequisites
Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Minimal syntax
Simple or even minimal languages are a widespread but not well-defined
phenomenon. Roughly speaking, the early stages of language acquisition,
e.g. at the one- or two-word level, the foreign language competence of
beginners, the pidgins and jargons used for special situations (e.g.
bilingual encounters), the language of mentally handicapped persons and
aphasics are only specimens out of a large field of reduced language
usage. Beyond the human species (Homo sapiens sapiens), the linguistic
skills of primates and the reconstructed language of Homo
neanderthaliensis or even Homo erectus are possible candidates.
The research on the language of primates trained by humans shows us
that their language capacities have semantic compositionality, i.e. hey are
able to put two (or more) meanings together to form a new complex. We
call this minimal syntax.
3
Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Nominal compounds and bare nominal
groups as candidates for minimal
syntax
If we take a compound as a kind of utterance per se, outside of its
possibly complex syntactic and textual context, its constituents are
often conceptually simple (e.g. stems/radicals). Although these
morphemes may belong to specific syntactic classes of the language
in question, this feature has only a reduced significance for the
construction of the meaning of the compound, i.e. the syntactic
potential of the morpheme is dormant in the morphological
construction.
In the case of adjective+ noun and similar constructions, the way of
semantic composition is comparable to that of compounds.
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Temporal binding as the basic compositional
principle
• The binding process is one of temporal synchronization of
neural assemblies, which form wholes (gestalts) from parts
and one of desynchronization which distinguishes figure
and ground. Cf. Engel (2004)
• This type of analysis concerns primarily the composition in
perception, attentiveness and memory, but one may
conjecture a parallel process for words (at least those
related to perceptual information) and their composition in
syntactic constructions.
• Temporal binding of neurons could be the equivalent of an
object-concept. This is shown in slide 5.
5
Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
The basic idea of temporal binding
Parts or features of a visual whole
are linked by the synchronic firing
of a set of neurons (an assembly)
during a short time interval.
In the example the parts and
features of the cat and those of the
woman are bound together by the
internal synchrony of the
assemblies 1 and 2 and they are
distinguished by the asynchrony of
these assemblies.
From: Engel et alii, 1997: 572
6
Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Ambiguity and Binding
Picture a is ambiguous. If
it is seen as one face (and
a candle in front of it) the
zones (1,2) and (3,4) (see
series d) are bound; in the
case two faces looking at
each other are seen, the
zones (1,3) und (2,4) are
bound. The binding may
be recognized by the
synchronic firing rates in
the series d versus e.
From: Engel, Fries und Singer, 2001: 707
7
Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Top down effects due to expectation and memory
The remembered object produces
higher synchronization at the γ-level
(30 to 60 Hz)
At the left a Kanitza-triangle
At the right a non-Kanitza-triangle
If the tested person is instructed to
recognize the non-Kanitza-triangle , the
synchronization is higher for this
configuration, although basic gestalt laws
would predict the contrary.
From: Hermann, Munk und Engel,
2004:349
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
“ ‘What’ and ‘Where’ are the
basic questions to be
answered in visual
perception. Not only must we
recognize what we are
looking at, but also we need
to know where it is in order
to respond appropriately.”
Gazzaniga u.a. (1998: 165)
If spatial and dynamic aspects on the pathway “Where” are
considered, primitive types of processes are combined with
simply bound predicates and dynamic gestalts corresponding to
what pops up in sentences must be implemented in the brain.
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Restrictions on compositionality due to temporal
binding
„The different firing rates that can
be easily discriminated on a
background of inherent noise
and accidental synchronies
may set a low limit to the
number of objects that can be
simultaneously bound.”
Teisman (1999: 108)
This restriction is even more
dramatic in the case of
process-schemata, as the
results of catastrophe theory
show.
These already maximally complex
processes exemplify the schemata
for exchange (giving) and
instrumental action. They contain as
subfields the schemata of capture,
emission, of beginning, end and
stable existence.
10
Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
List of archetypes with one to three attractors
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Existing in time and space (one place)
Coexistence 8n time and space (two place)
Localistic relations:
–
entering, leaving, being in (one place),
–
changing from A to B (two place)
–
changing from A to C via B (three place and further)
Affecting (A affects/influences/touches/catches/... B) (two place)
Effecting (A ejects/emits/creates/… B) (two place)
Instrumentality
(A affects C with the instrument B) (three place)
Transfer (A gives C to B / B receives C from A) (three place)
Causation (A causes C to affect/effect B) (three place)
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Nonce-compounds in German
One can distinguish three major classes (cf. wildgen, 1982c):
Symmetric (almost) compounds:
– Mann- Frau
(,,man-woman")
– Dichterkomponist
(,,poet-composer")
– Kardinal-Ökonom
(,,cardinal-economist")
Asymmetric compounds (the vast majority). As a general tendency one
can say: generalizing (classificatory) constituents rather stand at the
right, evaluative constituents at the left. Historically the first may be
become suffixes the latter prefixes:
Compounds with constituents containing one or two verbal stems:
• Arbeits-Begräbnis ("working burial")
• Horch-Angriff
("listening-attack")
• Anzapf-Versuch
("attempt to tap")
• Kontroll-Zwänge
("control restraint")
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Universität Bremen Fachbereich 10
Part II
Nominal compounds in poetic
language
(Paul Celan)
Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
The poet Paul Celan (his family name
was Anschel) was born in Czernowitz
(Bukowina) in 1920. He went to Paris
in 1938 to study medicine but returned
to Czernowitz in 1939. He stayed in
Rumania until 1947 when he fled to
Vienna and 1948 came to Paris to study
German Linguistics and Literature. In
1959 he became lecturer (lecteur) of
German at the École Normal
Supérieure (ENS) in Paris. After 1961
he had to be treated in different
psychiatric clinics. He committed
suicide in Paris 1971.
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Compounds in experimental poetry: analysis of some
compounds in poems by Paul Celan (1920-1971)
Titles of collections:
quantity
- Mohn und Gedächtnis (1952)
56 poems
- Von Schwelle zu Schwelle (1955)
47 "
-
Sprachgitter (1959)
Die Niemandsrose (1963)
Atemwende (1967)
Fadensonnen (1968)
31
53
80
105
"
"
"
"
- Lichtzwang (1970)
- Schneepart (1971)
81
70
"
"
- Lichtgehöft (1976)
50
"
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Variants of names for collections
The
collection at
left was
finally
named:
Atemwende,
the one at the
right:
Fadensonne.
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Other compounds in the Celan corpus
• Sprachwaage(NR)
• Sprachtürme (AW)
• Sprachnebel (LZ)
and with Wort (word):
• Worthöhlen (LZ)
• Wortwaage (NR)
• Wortspur
(AW)
• Wordwand AW)
• Wortsand
(NR)
• Wortwege (NP)
• Wortlitze
(SP)
• Wortschatten (SP)
:
:
:
language-weighing machine
language-towers
language-mist/fog
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
:
word-caves
word-weighing machine
word-track/trace
word-wall
word-sand
word-lanes
word-braid
word-shadow
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Nonce-compounds as minimal utterances in
titles of poem books by Paul Celan
•
•
•
Sprachgitter
:
Niemandsrose :
Atemwende
:
SG
NR
AW
•
•
Fadensonnen
Lichtzwang
:
:
FS
LZ
•
•
Schneepart
Zeitgehöft
:
:
SP
ZG
(language−grid/fence)
(nobody−rose)
(breath(ing) /
−turn / turnabout/reversal)
(thread/fiber/wire−suns)
(light / candle−compulsion/
necessity/restraint)
(snow−part)
(time−group of farm
buildings)
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Choice of archetypes as fillers of the relational slot of a
nominal compound
The construction may exploit generalized relational schemata (cf. section
3) and thus elaborate the basic binding structure (cf. section 2)
If one simply takes the list of semantic archetypes with one or two
attractors (cf. section 3), one obtains the following relational readings:
• a fence/grid is/coexists with language/linguistic phenomena
• a fence/grid becomes language/ a linguistic phenomenon
• a fence/grid ends/starts language
• language goes through a fence/grid
• a fence/grid captures language
• a fence/grid generates language
The compound is compatible with more than one of these; the delimiting
case (enter/start) is probably the most significant choice.
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Distribution of heavy/central and
restrictive/peripheral constituents
heavy constituent
restrictive constituent
Sprachgitter
Sprache (language)
Gitter (fence)
Niemandsrose
Rose (rose)
Niemand (nobody)
Atemwende
Atem (breath)
Wende (reversal)
Fadensonnen
Sonne (sun)
Faden (thread)
Lichtzwang
Licht
Zwang (compulsion)
Scheepart
Schnee
Part (part)
Zeitgehöft
Zeit
Gehöft (group of farmbuildings)
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Proliferation of the type of nonce compound from the
titles to the poems
In the collection: Atemwende we find:
• Atemseil
(breath-rope)
• Atemkristall
(breath-crystal)
• Steinatem
(stone-breath)
In the other collections similar compounds based on breath
show up:
• Niemandsrose :
Atembau
(breath-fabric)
Atemmünze (breath-coin/cash)
• Schneepart
:
Atemnot
(shortage of breath)
The continuous breadth (standing for life/soul) is broken down
to limited forms or is lacking (Atemnot)
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Further principles
•
Key words of the author, which are statistically prominent
(high recurrence) and which sketch the semantic frame of
the poetry in question;
• Simple binary (rarely tertiary) binding patterns, which may
be predicted using the hierarchy of semantic archetypes.
Some inherent dynamic features of the constituents refer to
relations/events and actions:
• relations :– part (in Schneepart), assembly of farm
buildings (Gehöft)
•
– thread (Faden) as opposed to disk (Scheibe)
•
– negation, nobody (niemand)
• barriers: – fence (´Gitter)
• antagonistic actions: reversal (Wende), compulsion
(Zwang)
22
Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Analysis of two poems by Celan
Aspen Tree, your leaves glance white into the dark.
My mother's hair was never white.
Dandelion, so green is the Ukraine.
My yellow-haired mother did not come home.
Rain cloud, above the well do you hover?
My quiet mother weeps for everyone.
Round star, you wind the golden loop.
My mother's heart was ripped by lead.
Oaken door, who lifted you off your hinges?
My gentle mother cannot return.
The poem
Aspen Tree
(cf.
http://www.penwi
th.co.uk/artofeuro
pe/poetry.htm).
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
The poem has five strophes and each one begins with a
minimal utterance, either a compound or a noun phrase:
• Aspen tree (Espenbaum)
• Dandelion (Löwenzahn = lion tooth)
• Rain cloud (Regenwolke)
• Round star (Runder Stern)
• Oaken door (Eichne Tür)
The first line is always completed by a sentence, two of them
being questions. The second verse of each strophe
(stanza) has “my mother” as recurrent topic.
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
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Todesfuge (fugue of death): Beginning of the poem: 1952
Black milk of daybreak we drink it at nightfall
we drink it at noon in the morning
we drink it at night
drink it and drink it
Weiße Milch
Sprachgitter (language grid): Beginning of the poem: 1959
Augenrund zwischen den Stäben.
Eye-round
Flimmertier Lid
rudert nach oben,
gibt einen Blick frei.
Cilium-animal
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Analysis of the compounds
In the new poems (after Celan’s move to Paris), the compounds are
nonce compounds and in general enigmatic:
• “Todesfuge” (Todestango) refers to a piece of music (Fuge/Tango/ …)
and associates it with death. Historically one may reconstruct a
coexistence (or precedence) in time of music playing and killing in the
concentration camp; but in general the semantic relation remains one
of association.
• “Eye-round” is like a nonce transformation of “round eye” with an
inversion of word order.
• Cilium-animal could be a real animal, but the immediately following
“Lid” (lid) shows that the compound describes metaphorically a body
part following the schema: body parts are animals.
In general very basic types of association like binding processes are used
to give meaning to the compounds.
26
Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Some conclusions
• Minimal utterance structure is something underlying not
only the grammar of every speech-event, showing up in
conversation, in answering questions, in understanding
disrupted speech, etc. It also constitutes a cognitive
plateau, on which many semiotic processes stand in
linguistic, gestured and visual communication. The
complexities of lexical knowledge and the intricate
difficulties of syntax are like supplementary layers which
often hide the basic structures ( as the associative cortex
hides the brain stem). In innovative poetic communication
this basic plateau shows up very clearly.
• There are two pathways one may chose to elaborate this
plateau:
27
Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
•
•
•
•
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Augment and make the message more complex by using a more
elaborated lexicon (beyond everybody’s active lexicon of ca. 10,000
items). Introduce new or mostly unknown words.
Deconstruct ritualized complicated patterns and build up new, yet
unusual linguistic patterns. This technique makes the construction of
meaning less determined and leaves more choices of interpretation
to the audience. It is clear that in order to guarantee some kind of
communication between writer and audience, the new systems must
contain lawful (predictable) patterns, which can be learned quickly by
an experienced audience.
Construct a deeper architecture of topics organized in clauses,
simple and complex sentences; descriptive, narrative and
argumentative chains. These techniques are less adequate in the
case of poetry.
Add so called poetic super-patterns, such as rime and enforced
rhythms (meter). If these have no effect on the construction of
meaning they remain decorative.
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Bibliography
• Ballmer, Thomas T. and Wolfgang Wildgen (eds.), 1987. Process
Linguistics. Exploring the Processual Aspects of Language and
Language Use, and the Methods of their Description, Niemeyer,
Tübingen.
• Celan, Paul, 1983. Gesammelte Werke in fünf Bänden. Dritter Band.
Gedichte III. Prosa. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
• Celan, Paul, 2004. Mohn und Gedächtnis. Vorstufen-TextgeneseEndfassung (bearbeitet von Heino Schull unter Mitarbeit von Christiane
Braun), Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main.
• Nielsen, Karsten Hoidfelt and Herald Pors, 1981. Index zur Lyrik
Celans, Fink, München.
• Pors, Harald, 1989. Rückläufiges Wortregister zur Lyrik Paul Celans,
Fink, München.
• Fleischer, Michael, 1985. Nomenhäufigkeitsverteilungslisten zur Lyrik
von Paul Celan. Statistik der Substantive und ihrer Komposita, Verlag:
Die Blaue Eule, Essen.
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Studienschwerpunkt: Sprachtheorie und Semiotik
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•
•
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Fachbereich Sprach- und Literaturwissenschaften
Gazzaniga, Michael S., Richard B. Ivry and George R. Mangun, 1998.
Cognitive Neuroscience. The Biology of the Mind, Norton, New York.
Gil, David, 2006a. Early Human Language was Isolating-MonocategoricalAssociational, cf.
http://www3.isrl.uiuc.edu/~junwang4/langev/localcopy/pdf/gil06evolang.pdf
Wildgen, Wolfgang, 1982a. Catastrophe Theoretic Semantics. An Elaboration
and Application of René Thom's Theory, Reihe: Pragmatics and Beyond: III, 5,
Benjamins, Amsterdam.
Wildgen, Wolfgang, 1982b. Makroprozesse bei der Verwendung nominaler ad
hoc-Komposita im Deutschen, in: Deutsche Sprache, 3: 237-257.
Wildgen, Wolfgang, 1982c. Zur Dynamik lokaler Kompositionsprozesse. Am
Beispiel nominaler ad hoc-Komposita im Deutschen, in: Folia Linguistica, 16:
297-344.
Wildgen, Wolfgang, 1985. Archetypensemantik. Grundlagen für eine
dynamische Semantik auf der Basis der Katastrophentheorie, Reihe:
Methoden und Ergebnisse der Sprachwissenschaft, Narr, Tübingen.
Wildgen, Wolfgang, 1987. Dynamic Aspects of Nominal Composition, in:
Ballmer und Wildgen, 1987: 128-162.
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