Don’t read too much into the runes
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C. Jac Conradie
Abstract
Runic inscriptions, particularly those dedicated to the deceased, generally commence with a reference to its initiator and furthermore mentions the (usually highly regarded) rune writer by name, before the person that the monument is dedicated to is even named or related to his/her actions or the way he/she met his/her death. Language-wise the formulation is characterised by full sentences with action verbs mostly in the active voice. It is argued that the register of the inscriptions has much in common with oral narrative, which in itself has several iconic characteristics, such as taking the ‘I’ as point of departure, employing action verbs to describe activities and dealing with events in their order of occurrence. Therefore if certain distinctions between signifier and signified were not sharply drawn in the minds of those erecting memorials, signifier and signified must necessarily resemble each other to a sufficient extent to have an iconic relationship. The persistent presence and prominence of the initiator of the memorial and the rune writer in the inscriptions create the impression that the very raising and inscribing of a stone was tantamount to honouring the deceased, and therefore one and the same act.
Abstract
Runic inscriptions, particularly those dedicated to the deceased, generally commence with a reference to its initiator and furthermore mentions the (usually highly regarded) rune writer by name, before the person that the monument is dedicated to is even named or related to his/her actions or the way he/she met his/her death. Language-wise the formulation is characterised by full sentences with action verbs mostly in the active voice. It is argued that the register of the inscriptions has much in common with oral narrative, which in itself has several iconic characteristics, such as taking the ‘I’ as point of departure, employing action verbs to describe activities and dealing with events in their order of occurrence. Therefore if certain distinctions between signifier and signified were not sharply drawn in the minds of those erecting memorials, signifier and signified must necessarily resemble each other to a sufficient extent to have an iconic relationship. The persistent presence and prominence of the initiator of the memorial and the rune writer in the inscriptions create the impression that the very raising and inscribing of a stone was tantamount to honouring the deceased, and therefore one and the same act.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface and acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction 1
-
General
- Three paradigms of iconicity research in language and literature 13
- Iconicity of logic - and the roots of "iconicity" concept 35
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Sound Meets Meaning
- Iconic inferences about personality 57
- Phonemes as images 71
- Synaesthetic sound iconicity 93
- What’s in a mimetic? 109
- Iconicity in the syntax and lexical semantics of sound-symbolic words in Japanese 125
- A corpus-based semantic analysis of Japanese mimetic verbs 143
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Language Meets Literature
- Iconicity in translation 163
- The days pass … 185
- Visual, auditory, and cognitive iconicity in written literature 207
- Don’t read too much into the runes 219
-
Grammar Meets Iconicity
- Iconicity in question 241
- Rethinking diagrammatic iconicity from an evolutionary perspective 259
- Author index 275
- Subject index 277
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface and acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction 1
-
General
- Three paradigms of iconicity research in language and literature 13
- Iconicity of logic - and the roots of "iconicity" concept 35
-
Sound Meets Meaning
- Iconic inferences about personality 57
- Phonemes as images 71
- Synaesthetic sound iconicity 93
- What’s in a mimetic? 109
- Iconicity in the syntax and lexical semantics of sound-symbolic words in Japanese 125
- A corpus-based semantic analysis of Japanese mimetic verbs 143
-
Language Meets Literature
- Iconicity in translation 163
- The days pass … 185
- Visual, auditory, and cognitive iconicity in written literature 207
- Don’t read too much into the runes 219
-
Grammar Meets Iconicity
- Iconicity in question 241
- Rethinking diagrammatic iconicity from an evolutionary perspective 259
- Author index 275
- Subject index 277
