{"id":159902,"date":"2024-02-14T11:47:07","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T10:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/event\/isomorphism-the-one-and-many-lecture-by-hendrik-de-smet-ku-leuven\/"},"modified":"2024-02-14T11:47:07","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T10:47:07","slug":"isomorphism-the-one-and-many-lecture-by-hendrik-de-smet-ku-leuven","status":"publish","type":"event","link":"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/en\/event\/isomorphism-the-one-and-many-lecture-by-hendrik-de-smet-ku-leuven\/","title":{"rendered":"Isomorphism, the one and many, lecture by Hendrik De Smet (KU Leuven)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Abstract<\/strong>
\nThe isomorphic principle maintains that languages maximally preserve one-to-one correspondences between meaning and form. In historical linguistics, explanations of language change in terms of homonymy avoidance, synonymy avoidance or ambiguity avoidance all more or less explicitly hark back to the isomorphic ideal. However, though soundly rooted in Structuralist and Functionalist theory, isomorphic thinking has received major criticism in recent decades. Variation is now generally considered pervasive and often stable in language, rather than a fleeting anomaly. This makes the workings of isomorphism seem inconsistent and its use as an explanation of change gratuitous. Moreover, some changes are strikingly un-isomorphic (De Smet et al. 2018). It has even been argued that many-to-many correspondences between meaning and form offer functional advantages (Van de Velde 2014).<\/p>\n

In this talk, I want to reassess the value of the isomorphic principle. Although it needs to be recognized that violations of isomorphism exist and may indeed make good functional sense in their own right, there also remains strong and independent evidence in support of the isomorphic principle, not only from historical linguistics but also from language acquisition and animal communication. This evidence suggests that the isomorphic principle is not so much ill-conceived, as at times misunderstood. What is needed, therefore, is a better understanding of the nature of isomorphism and the conditions under which it operates. The following three principles are proposed.<\/p>\n

First, isomorphism interacts with how the meaning side of the linguistic sign is organized. It is generally accepted that meanings are organized around a prototypical core sense, from which peripheral senses are derived (e.g. Geeraerts 1997; Evans 2005). It is proposed here that isomorphic pressure is stronger for core senses than for peripheral senses. This predicts that signs will mostly enter into variation over their peripheral senses. For example, in\u00a0he was upset with the verdict\u00a0the preposition\u00a0with\u00a0is used in one of its peripheral senses and competes with\u00a0at,\u00a0about\u00a0and\u00a0over; but in its core comitative and instrumental senses, as in\u00a0she opened the envelope with a knife, competition with other prepositions is almost non-existent.<\/p>\n

Second, meanings are often coded redundantly in the syntagm. For example, in\u00a0this man walks into a bar\u00a0the number of the subject is coded three times, first by\u00a0this, then in\u00a0man\u00a0(as opposed to\u00a0men), and finally by the\u00a0-s\u00a0ending on\u00a0walks. This type of redundancy is a design feature of nearly all communicative codes because it safeguards communication against the inevitable \u2018noise\u2019 of the environment. For example, Shannon (1948) famously estimates English prose as being 50% redundant. Although redundancy is an apparent violation of isomorphism, syntagmatic redundancy can also be regarded as an extension of the formal side of the sign and, thereby, as a way of sustaining polysemy. This principle can be expected to play out in semantic change: polysemy in a sign can be diachronically stable as long as the context of the sign offers sufficient clues for disambiguation.<\/p>\n

Third, signs also maintain paradigmatic relations, which are generally believed to keep meanings in check through contrast. However, while paradigmatic relations can in principle enforce isomorphism, they vary in strength. It is proposed that contrast depends crucially on the salience of a \u2018choice point\u2019. Choice points are salient if they are structurally embedded and if they can be anticipated. This, among other things, predicts that systemic redundancy (where a language develops competing forms to express the same meaning) typically arises from semantic change outside choice points, in non-competitive structural niches. For example, English deontics\u00a0have to\u00a0develop primarily in contexts in which deontic\u00a0must\u00a0or\u00a0shall\u00a0not occur.<\/p>\n

In sum, it is the structural organization of language that largely dictates where and how isomorphism can exert its influence.<\/p>\n

Bionote<\/strong>
\nHendrik De Smet\u00a0er lektor i engelsk sprogvidenskab ved universitetet i Leuven. En af hans prim\u00e6re forskningsinteresser er historisk lingvistik p\u00e5 et funktionelt og kognitivt grundlag, og han forsker s\u00e6rligt i mekanismerne i sprogforandring (bl.a. inferens, analogi og priming) og grammatikalisering. Hendrik De Smet har skrevet om bl.a. reanalyse og aktualisering, produktivitet, konkurrence og den individuelle sprogbrugers rolle i sprogforandring. Blandt hans \u00f8vrige forskningsengagementer er korpusopbygning og -udvikling og formidling af sprogvidenskabelig viden.<\/p>\n

References<\/strong>
\nDe Smet, H., F. D\u2019hoedt, L. Fonteyn, & K. Van Goethem. 2018. The changing functions of competing forms: Attraction and differentiation.\u00a0Cognitive Linguistics\u00a029(2): 197-234.<\/p>\n

Evans, V. 2005. The meaning of time: Polysemy, the lexicon and conceptual structure.\u00a0Journal of Linguistics\u00a041: 33-75.<\/p>\n

Geeraerts, D. 1997.\u00a0Diachronic prototype semantics: A contribution to historical lexicology.\u00a0Oxford: Oxford University Press.<\/p>\n

Shannon, C.E. 1948. A mathematical theory of communication.\u00a0The Bell System Technical Journal\u00a027: 379-423.<\/p>\n

Van de Velde, F. 2014. Degeneracy: The maintenance of constructional networks. In R. Boogaart, T. Colleman & G. Rutten (eds),\u00a0Extending the scope of construction grammar, 141-179. Berlin: De Gruyter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Abstract The isomorphic principle maintains that languages maximally preserve one-to-one correspondences between meaning and form. In historical linguistics, explanations of language change in terms of homonymy avoidance, synonymy avoidance or ambiguity avoidance all more or less explicitly hark back to the isomorphic ideal. However, though soundly rooted in Structuralist and Functionalist theory, isomorphic thinking has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":159903,"template":"","class_list":["post-159902","event","type-event","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","event_category-foredrag"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nIsomorphism, the one and many, lecture by Hendrik De Smet (KU Leuven)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uniavisen.dk\/event\/isomorphism-the-one-and-many-lecture-by-hendrik-de-smet-ku-leuven\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Isomorphism, the one and many, lecture by Hendrik De Smet (KU Leuven)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Abstract The isomorphic principle maintains that languages maximally preserve one-to-one correspondences between meaning and form. 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