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Emotions

Various “language-games” which open the door to grammar*

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to point out that the semantic analysis of the language of emotions contributed from the thirties onwards to the emergence of analytic philosophy. Based on Wittgenstein’ s thought that fuelled this return to the observation of ordinary language, this study shows that the specificity of his approach was to examine the expression of emotions through their learning in order to undermine the idea that the use of emotional terms and utterances would allow us to perform acts of reference, to describe a mental state or to inform another of what we feel. Furthermore, this analysis aims at highlighting that the expression of each kind of emotion (exclamation, fear, pain, etc.) is governed by different grammatical rules, so that the structure of emotional language has to be thought of as being composed of various language-games which, while finding their common origin in our form of life, are nevertheless only related by their family resemblance. By thus focusing on the singularity of grammatical rules, the paradigm of emotions contributes not only to establishing the fundamental concepts of a new approach to  meaning, but authorizes the affirmation of the primacy of Grammar as being the place in which the meaning is “prepared” by constraining the possibilities of word uses.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to point out that the semantic analysis of the language of emotions contributed from the thirties onwards to the emergence of analytic philosophy. Based on Wittgenstein’ s thought that fuelled this return to the observation of ordinary language, this study shows that the specificity of his approach was to examine the expression of emotions through their learning in order to undermine the idea that the use of emotional terms and utterances would allow us to perform acts of reference, to describe a mental state or to inform another of what we feel. Furthermore, this analysis aims at highlighting that the expression of each kind of emotion (exclamation, fear, pain, etc.) is governed by different grammatical rules, so that the structure of emotional language has to be thought of as being composed of various language-games which, while finding their common origin in our form of life, are nevertheless only related by their family resemblance. By thus focusing on the singularity of grammatical rules, the paradigm of emotions contributes not only to establishing the fundamental concepts of a new approach to  meaning, but authorizes the affirmation of the primacy of Grammar as being the place in which the meaning is “prepared” by constraining the possibilities of word uses.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Linguistic approaches to emotion in context 1
  4. Part I. Emotion, philosophy and language
  5. Emotions 21
  6. Passion, a forgotten feeling 39
  7. Part II. Expressing and interpreting emotion
  8. On “Disgust” 73
  9. A corpus-based construction of emotion verb scales 99
  10. Patterns of allocentric emotional expressions, a contrastive study* 113
  11. The expression of emotions in conditionals 137
  12. Conceptual metaphors of anger in popularized scientific texts 159
  13. Bad feelings in context 189
  14. Part III. Doing emotion
  15. Emotions and prosodic structure 215
  16. Prosody and emotion in Greek 231
  17. Cross-cultural perception of some Japanese politeness and impoliteness expressions* 251
  18. Part IV. Pragmatic use of emotion
  19. Verbal aggressiveness or cooperative support? 279
  20. ‘I must do everything to eliminate my negative attitude’ 309
  21. Language learning and making the mundane special 331
  22. Name index 347
  23. Subject index 355
Linguistic Approaches to Emotions in Context
This chapter is in the book Linguistic Approaches to Emotions in Context
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.241.03god

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Linguistic approaches to emotion in context 1
  4. Part I. Emotion, philosophy and language
  5. Emotions 21
  6. Passion, a forgotten feeling 39
  7. Part II. Expressing and interpreting emotion
  8. On “Disgust” 73
  9. A corpus-based construction of emotion verb scales 99
  10. Patterns of allocentric emotional expressions, a contrastive study* 113
  11. The expression of emotions in conditionals 137
  12. Conceptual metaphors of anger in popularized scientific texts 159
  13. Bad feelings in context 189
  14. Part III. Doing emotion
  15. Emotions and prosodic structure 215
  16. Prosody and emotion in Greek 231
  17. Cross-cultural perception of some Japanese politeness and impoliteness expressions* 251
  18. Part IV. Pragmatic use of emotion
  19. Verbal aggressiveness or cooperative support? 279
  20. ‘I must do everything to eliminate my negative attitude’ 309
  21. Language learning and making the mundane special 331
  22. Name index 347
  23. Subject index 355
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