9 The emergence of linguistic semantics in the 19th and early 20th century
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Brigitte Nerlich
Abstract
This chapter deals with the 19th-century roots of current cognitive and pragmatic approaches to the study of meaning and meaning change. It demonstrates that 19th-century linguistic semantics has more to offer than the atomistic historicism for which 19th-century linguistics became known and for which it was often criticised. By contrast, semanticists in Germany, France and Britain in particular sought to study meaning and change of meaning from a much more holistic point of view, seeking inspiration from philosophy, biology, geology, psychology, and sociology to study how meaning is ‘made’ in the context of social interaction and how it changes over time under pressure from changing linguistic, societal and cognitive needs and influences.
Abstract
This chapter deals with the 19th-century roots of current cognitive and pragmatic approaches to the study of meaning and meaning change. It demonstrates that 19th-century linguistic semantics has more to offer than the atomistic historicism for which 19th-century linguistics became known and for which it was often criticised. By contrast, semanticists in Germany, France and Britain in particular sought to study meaning and change of meaning from a much more holistic point of view, seeking inspiration from philosophy, biology, geology, psychology, and sociology to study how meaning is ‘made’ in the context of social interaction and how it changes over time under pressure from changing linguistic, societal and cognitive needs and influences.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- 1 Meaning in linguistics 1
- 2 Meaning, intentionality and communication 14
- 3 (Frege on) Sense and reference 33
- 4 Reference: Foundational issues 62
- 5 Meaning in language use 94
- 6 Compositionality 122
- 7 Lexical decomposition: Foundational issues 156
- 8 Meaning in pre-19th century thought 182
- 9 The emergence of linguistic semantics in the 19th and early 20th century 217
- 10 The influence of logic on semantics 242
- 11 Formal semantics and representationalism 273
- 12 Varieties of semantic evidence 306
- 13 Methods in cross-linguistic semantics 340
- 14 Formal methods in semantics 362
- 15 The application of experimental methods in semantics 387
- Index 409
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- 1 Meaning in linguistics 1
- 2 Meaning, intentionality and communication 14
- 3 (Frege on) Sense and reference 33
- 4 Reference: Foundational issues 62
- 5 Meaning in language use 94
- 6 Compositionality 122
- 7 Lexical decomposition: Foundational issues 156
- 8 Meaning in pre-19th century thought 182
- 9 The emergence of linguistic semantics in the 19th and early 20th century 217
- 10 The influence of logic on semantics 242
- 11 Formal semantics and representationalism 273
- 12 Varieties of semantic evidence 306
- 13 Methods in cross-linguistic semantics 340
- 14 Formal methods in semantics 362
- 15 The application of experimental methods in semantics 387
- Index 409
