Implementation of Argumentation as Process in Theoretical Linguistics: A State of the Art-Review and a Model for Argumentation in Linguistics
- Abstract -
This article
presents a grammatical language model that bridges between linguistic and literary theory
after an examination of latest research regarding the states of linguistic theory in the
21st century. In linguistic theories we face present different approaches and
definitions of an argument. We argue that the use of arguments in linguistics should be
limited to the functions that also are related to traditional functions of rhetoric and
linguistics. We will face the position arguments and argumentation have in several
linguistic theories and will present our own
approach towards the argument in linguistics. Finding a general lack of argumentation as a
structural element in linguistic theories serving for an interpretation of argumentative
functions of linguistic productivity, this article choses the linguistic example of
uttered sentences that serve as examples for the argumentative structure of the sentence.
We will claim that such a text-immanent structure makes a text argumentative based upon
the proper linguistic structure of its elements. In our model the argument is represented
in a functional linguistic approach as a syntactic element.
We conclude with
a working definition for argument and argumentation for theoretical linguistics.
I Introduction – The State of the
Art: Argumentation in the Linguistic Models and Rhetorical Theory
1. Overview: Linguistics and Argumentation
The need of an
integrative model for argumentation in linguistics is obvious, when reading de
Beaugrande’s description of the stae of the art in linguistics. In Linguistic Theory: The Discourse of Fundamental Works
de Beaugrande wrote: “‘Surveys’ of ‘linguistic theory’ have
become so numerous that a new one calls for some justification. It seems to me that even
though linguistics is about language, the major works in linguistic theory have seldom
been analysed and synthesized as language, specifically: as a mode of discourse seeking to
circumscribe language by means of language. Perhaps this lack is due in part to the
limitations imposed by theorists who did not address discourse as a linguistic phenomenon,
or only marginally so. Perhaps too, it was tacitly assumed that theories do not critically
depend on the language in which they happen to be expounded. Today, however, discourse has
become a major area of concern; and the dependence of concepts and arguments on the
discourse that constitutes them is widely acknowledged.” (Beaugrande). In general, we
can distinguish between 1. the classical model of the separation of the argument as a
discoursive rhetorical element that is useful for the claim, to speak in the categories of
Toulmin and 2. the linguistic models that implement argumentation as a linguistic feature.
In this case the relation between rhetoric and linguistics got lost. Toulmin in The
Uses of Argument as a theoretical work on argumentation stands in the tradtions of the
non-linguistic approach towards argumentation and the rhetorical concept of argumentation.
Several linguistic theories use the concept of argumentation in their models. We will
access argumentation as a traditional concept of the rhetorical concept, which has given
rhetoric a special and defininate place in the theory of rhetoric between the narration
and the conclusion in a speech. But argumentation in linguistics is not a consecutive
element in a apeech process, in which the aim of the speech act is the communication of
contents for the persuasion of the audience. The sentence is a unit of the speech in
linguistic syntax. The sentence that has the proper linguistic features described in the
linguistic subsections allows the speaker to perform a sentence that is communicable. In
other words expressed: The matching linguistic structures are a guarantee for the
communicability of a sentence.
2. Definition of Implementation and
Implementations of Argumentations in Rhetoric and Linguistics
Generally, an
implementation is a process of inserting an abstract concept into a major context and so
giving evidence of its application. Implementation is the realization of an application or
an execution of a plan, idea, or model. To implement is to apply in a manner consistent
with its purpose of application. The argumentation is a in a linguistic compound not a
part in a consecutive scheme like in the rhetorical speech, in which it the part of speech
that follows the eginning and narration and is followed by the refutation and conclusion.
On the contrary, in linguistics theories the argumentation is the structure of linguistic
features, which is implemented in the sentence. Our model relies on the function of
argumentation as the emedded faculty of a user of the language resulting from the proper
use of linguistic features. The argumentation allows us to understand such sentences like
"The sun is a power of live.", since we are able to understand the argumentative
linguistic structure, which is implemented in it, when the sentence is communicated; we
are as the receivers of the communicated contents aware of the grammatical structure of
the whole sentence and its synatx, the semantic connotations of the nouns and have the
ability the pronounce the sentence in a way other persons are able to understand it.
3. The Corpus and Method of Linguistics: Methodology
of Linguistics and Linguistics as Applied
Technique
In The
Conduct of Linguistic Inquiry Botha wrote: "As a theoretical description, a
grammar does not represent an unorganized collection of grammatical concepts. A grammar is
the result of the organizing of these concepts. In other words, within a grammar
grammatical concepts are integrated. This brings us to a third activity involved in the
giving of theoretical grammatical descriptions: the integration of grammatical
concepts." (Botha 159). According to Evans and Green, "grammaticalisation
results in the development of expressions for grammatical concepts". (Evans and Green
714). The question What is Linguistics? the Department
of Linguistics at Stanford University answers as follows: "Linguistics
concerns itself with the fundamental questions of what language is and how it is related
to the other human faculties. In answering these questions, linguists consider language as
a cultural, social, and psychological phenomenon and seek to determine what is unique in
languages, what is universal, how language is acquired, and how it changes. Linguistics
is, therefore, one of the cognitive sciences; it provides a link between the humanities
and the social sciences, as well as education and hearing and speech sciences." (Department
of Linguistics Stanford University). Levels of linguistic analysis we
distinguish in linguistic theories are obvious subject to the same sentence of a natural
language. In other words: We can distinguish between the linguistics strurcures of lexicology, syntax, semantics, phonology, and
rhetoric for one sentence like "The sun is a power of live.” The results of an
analysis of any of these levels refers to meanings that are derived from the sentence and
described in categories. The grammaticalisation of language as linguistic method is per se
a semiotic practice of the linguist, who is giving meanings to structural elements of the
language regardless of their appearance on the surface. These meanings refer to a
grammatical system and were relatively constantly handled in the tradition of grammar
arising from ancient Greek culture. Especially syntax is here the sub-discipline dealing
with the connections of linguistic meanings drawn from rules of their orders in sentences
of a specific language. The basic assumption for example for syntax is that any utterance
of a language can be devided into several elements with a relatively stable order.
Linguistics as applied technique has a theoretical ground we described above, but it is
not limited to the sectors we introduced above. The corpus of the linguistic analysis must
be defined as a text, a sentence, a word or a text corpus. In this work text means the
documentary form of a text or oral utterance of any of these classifications, which was
recorded and transcribed as text. The text of the corpus can be either a natural corpus,
e.g. a set of utterances in a book, an article, an orally transmitted proverb, or an
artificial corpus based upon selective texts chosen by the researcher according to
specific criteria (e.g. a specific literary genre in a specific era, "the
Post-Colonial Novel" or "Proverbs on Fun from Antiquity to Modernity"). The
approaches of analysis can be synchronical or diachronical choosing a selected time frame
or a diachronic timeline the text is taken from. The analysis can face questions related
to the general topic of linguistics we mentioned: Lexicology, phonetics, grammar, syntax,
semiotics, pragmatics, and discourse analysis and rhetoric.
4. The Argument in Linguistic Theory and Other
Theories
Nichols offered
information about some of the grammatical theories compatible with the assumptions of
anthropologically oriented students of language and with the theoretical work of scholars.
Her study concludes “that the various functionalist approaches are essentially
complementary. Most functionalists seem to perceive a unity of goals and methods, despite
the plethora of senses of function. (Nicols 97). According to Nicols, theories of grammar,
grammatical analyses, and grammatical statements may be divided into three types:
structural, formal, and functional. (Nicols 97). Cornell stated that "central to a
pragmatic perspective is the belief that mening is not an objective entity that is out
there waiting to be uncovered, but rather mening is localted in human practice - in other
words, it is human construction based on communication, cooperative action, and community
relations." (Cornell 104). Tihanov traced the origin of literary theory back to the discipline by the activities of Russian Formalists who considered "investigating literature as
an autonomous domain" ending with Wolfgang Iser's literary anthropology (Tihanov 61).
Giving a timeline of the latest events in literary theory of the 21st century,
Howard focused on the present condition of literary theory in the U.S. resuming that it is
in a current situation as a free-for-all and that "theory has no material coherence,
only an attitude. The theory has become so much part of the literary profession that one
needs to have some familiarity with the "isms," no matter which one embraces
most closely." (Howard A12). Howard also stated: "Theory, those reports make
clear, is far from dead. But neither is it a unified kingdom. Theory today is a loose
federation of states with permeable boundaries, no universally recognized constitution,
and not much in the way of a lingua franca. It looks less like a superpower, in other
words, and more like the fractious and ever-expanding European Union." (Howard A12).
Literary theory examines literature defining it and classifying types and genres of
literature. Literary theory as such can be traced back to earlier implementations into
philosophy starting with Plato and cultural and religious writings. Autonomy of literary
theory came up in the late phase of modernity after in the 19th century a new
structure of academic disciplines was established. In the 21st century
deconstruction and French Theory are examples of the influence of philosophical movements
on literature. Literary theories have been always subject to a specific perspective or
worldview, which established the settings of literature in the theories, e.g. a Marxist or
Christian perspective and also a perspective of dominant in a certain time and culture.
Klages wrote: "Literary theory isn't something you learn, it's something you become
aware of. You already have a theory, or several theories, about literature, but you may
have never thought about them or articulated them." (Klages 3). Eagleton wrote:
"If there is such a thing as literary theory, then it would seem obvious that there
is something called literature which is the theory of." (Eagleton 1). This
hypothetical and open characterization of literary theory came hand in hand with the claim
that literary theory had its decline in recent time. Also in literary theories the
argument and the process of argumentation can be considered as implementations of
arguments and argumentation following the linguistic and rhetorical definitions and
functions of arguments and argumentation in a text. Longworth presented a philosophical
exploration into the possibility of linguistic understanding as a "form of
knowledge." Longworth does not assert
that "linguistic theories are implausible, but that contemporary paradigms of
definition are not sound." (Longworth 50). Kretzschmar stated that "linguistics
is a problematic home for language variationists. Dominant North American linguistic
theories are different from NeoFirthian ideas in Britain (...). In the twenty-first
century, linguists need to understand and accept the idea that there are many different
valid ways to study human language." (Kretzschmar 263). Ritter mentioned that
"in the last fifty or so years, the field of linguistics has become concerned with
the study of language as a means for understanding how the mind works. Linguistic theories
that advocate the idea that structure-building computations underlie human grammar have
been assumed to reveal the same type of computational operations present in theories of
other modules of the mind. At the same time, with the emergence of new scientific
technical advances, more concrete and tangible light is being shed on how the brain
actually operates in terms of both its mechanisms and the loci of activity that correspond
to specific functions." (Ritter 117). Schalkwyk mentioned that "that Saussure
has played in the recent turn towards linguistic theory in literary studies."
(Schalkwyk 97). Butler discussed the relationships between corpus linguistics and
functionalist theories, specifically "in the light of the distinction which has been
proposed between ‘corpus-based’ and ‘corpus-driven’ approaches".
Butler argued "that functional theories must take on board the findings of
corpus-driven linguistics if they are to fulfil the aims they set for themselves".
Butler conclided that "more should be done to test the fundamental theoretical claims
of such theories rigorously against what corpora can tell us, these claims being modified
or even abandoned where necessary." (Butler 147).
4.1. Argument and Linguistic Theory
Linguistic
theories use in different concepts argumentation and arguments in order to indicate
grammatical phenomena of words, phrases, and sentences. In linguistics mainly associated
with meaning are semantics and pragmatics. Meaning is often called connotation. Reference
is denotation. Sense and meaning can be in an idea, an image, a metaphor, or a symbol. In Linguistics Meets Exact Sciences Hajic wrote:
“A description of a (correct) behavior of a particular language is typically called a
grammar. A grammar usually generalizes: it describes the language structurally and in
terms of broad categories, avoiding the listing of all possible words in all possible
clauses (it is believed that languages are infinite, making such a listing impossible). An
English grammar, for example, states that a sentence consisting of a single clause
typically contains a subject, expressed by a noun phrase, and a verb phrase, expressed by
a finite verb form as a minimum. A grammar refers to a lexicon (set of lexical units)
containing word-specific information such as parts of speech (noun, verb, adjective,
particle, etc.) or syntactic subcategorization (e.g., that the verb "to attach"
has a subject and an indirect object with the preposition "to").” (Hajic).
Lüpke wrote: “Lexicalist approaches are based on the assumption that argument
structure features are specified at the lexical level andprojected into syntax.
Constructionalist approaches argue for a specification of argument structure properties
through the construction(s) in which verbs appear. An investigation of the semantic
determinants of argument structure and the level at which they apply are extremely
relevant in order to understand how participants of an event are mapped onto argument
positions at the syntax-semantics interface. There are detailed (and partly conflicting)
proposals for the design of this information structure made on the basis of English and a
few other well-studied languages. In contrast, systematic cross-linguistic accounts of
argument structure determining properties are in most cases available only for limited
numbers of verbs or restricted semantic domains.” (Lüpke). Tenny and Pustejovsky
mentioned that “time, space, change, and causation are things that we expect to
encounter as elements of physics; either the scientific physics of deep study and rigor,
or the time-tested folk physics of common sense. But the notion that these concepts should
figure in the grammar of human language - both explicitly and formally in syntactic and
semantic representations - is a relatively new idea for theoretical linguists.”
(Tenny and Pustejovsky). In syntax, the theta criterion states that in a grammatical
sentence, every theta role that a verb can assign must be realized by some argument, and
each argument may bear only a single theta role. For the verb give associated with the
theta-roles of agent, goal and theme, an example of a sentence is this: John gave Anna a
book. Here the three theta roles are assigned to John, Anna, and book. These nouns are
arguments were absent. In linguistics a verb argument is a phrase that has a syntactic
relationship with the verb of a clause. In English the two most important arguments are
the subject and the direct object. Information about the arguments themselves are
grammatical gender, number, and person.
4.2. The Argument in Linguistic Morphology,
Syntax, and Semantics
Lebarbé
differentiated the different functions of the argument in linguistics for syntax and
semantics. According to Lebarbé, the argument in syntax is “a phrase which is a
referential expression and which is associated with a theta-role assigned by a lexical
head.” (Lebarbé). Example: the NPs John and apples in (i)a are arguments of eat and
the embedded sentence in (i)b is an argument of obvious. The phrase next week in (ii) is
not an argument (of visit), and is assigned no theta-role.
(i) a
John eats apples
b That you're in love,
is obvious
(ii) Next week, I will visit you
Arguments can be
construed as chains. Now we can say that in (iii) the theta-role of hit is assigned to the
°trace t, which is given referential substance by its antecedent John, hence is
associated with the argument (John_i, ti), which is a chain.
(iii) Johni was hit ti
In semantics in
the formula P(a), a is called “the argument of the predicate P”. Generally, for
a predicate with °arity n, in P(a1,...,an), a1,...,an are called the arguments of P.
In morphology,
the “'Argument-linking Principle' is a principle intended to account for the
interpretation of synthetic compounds. This principle accounts for the fact that the
interpretation of the non-head in synthetic compounds such as truck driver and hand-woven
- which are assumed to have the morphological structures [[[truck] [drive]] er] and
[[[hand] [weave]] en] - is quite restricted.” (Lebarbé). According to Lebarbé, in
morphology and syntax the 'argument structure' is “what makes a lexical head induce
argument positions in syntactic structure is called its argument structure”.
(Lebarbé). Example: the head ´open´ has an argument structure which induces
obligatorily one argument position (Theme), and optionally two more (Agent and
Instrument). This argument structure explains what the sentences in (i) have in common.
The argument structure of open is usually indicated as in (ii)a or b.
(i) John opened Bill's door (with his key)
John's key opened Bill's
door
Bill's door opened
Bill's door was opened (by
John)
(ii) a: OPEN (John door key)
| |
|
Agent Theme Instrument
b: OPEN
<Ag, Th, Instr> (Lebarbé)
To summarize, we
have here a topical structure of the arguments we can reduce to the following topoi:
Who/What? (Agent /Subject)
Who/What? (Theme /Object)
How?
(Instrument/ Object)
1. Elements of
the Theta-role Referring to the Argument in Linguistics
4.3. The Argument in Logic
In logic an
argument is a set of one or more meaningful sentences also called propositions known as
the premises along with another meaningful declarative sentence as proposition known as
the conclusion. Classical forms of the use of arguments are in deductive reasoning:
Premise 1: Socrates is a human.
Premise 2: Humans are mortal.
Conclusion: Socrates is mortal.
From the second
premise's argument to be mortal attributed to humans the conclusion derived. In The
Uses of Argument (1958), Toulmin introduced the generally accepted concept of the
argument consisting of the following components:
Claim The claimed
conclusion
Data Facts
Warrant Statement
moving from data to claim
Backing Credentials for the warrant
Rebuttal Conditions
that are limition the claim
Qualifier Expressions indicating the conditions of a
claim
Here the
linguistic apprearance of the argument is not emphasized.
4.4. The Argument in Rhetoric
The classical
place of the argument is the rhetorical theory. The argument is the element or auxiliary
tool in a rhetorical process that serves for the acceptance of a statement. In
classical rhetoric the place of the arguments is in the part of the speech called
argumentation. Rhetoric distinguished different arguments. Arguments can be 1. enthymemata (????µ?µata), 2. epicheiremata
(?p??e???µata), or 3. apodeixeis
(?p?de??e??) (Inst. Orat. 5, 10, 1). The enthymeme (????µ?µa, commentum
or commentatio) has three meanings: Anything conceived in the mind, a proposition
with a reason, a conclusion of an argument drawn either from denial of consequents or from
incompatibles. It is also called a rhetorical syllogism (5, 10, 1). Epicheireme
(?p??e???µa) is reasoning (5, 10, 6). Apodeixis
(?p?de????) is clear proof (5, 10, 7). These three
means are called p?ste??
(fides), which is a warrant of credibility. The
word was translated by Quintilian as probatio
(proof) (5, 10, 8).
via
Artificial Arguments
Proof Probatio p?ste??
(fides)
Enthymentes
enthymemata (????µ?µata)
“rhetorical syllogism”“commentatio”
Epichairemes epicheiremes (?p??e???µata)
Apodeixeis apodeixeis
(?p?de??e??)
Argumentation
via
Inartificial Arguments
Commonplaces
Arguments from persons and arguments from things
Derived from loci (topoi)
2. Types
of Arguments in Argumentation
An
enthymeme consists of three parts:
Major
premise
Reason
Conclusion
(5, 13, 10)
According
to Quintilian, inartificial arguments are signs also called indications from arguments (5, 10, 12).
Probable arguments (e???ta) are related to credibility (5, 10, 15).
Quintilian lists the following types of places of arguments (5, 10):
1. Commonplaces
(5,
10, 20)
2. Arguments
from persons and arguments from things (5, 10, 23)
Quintilian
lists the following systematic places of arguments.
Arguments
drawn from the causes of past or future actions (5, 10, 33)
Argument
from contraries (5, 10, 2)
Arguments
from place (5, 10, 37)
Arguments
from time (5, 10, 42)
Arguments
from circumstances (5, 10, 46)
Arguments
from definition (5, 10, 54)
Arguments
from similarities, from unlikes, from contraries, from consequences necessary or probable (5, 10, 73)
?pa????
(induction) (5, 10, 73)
Inconsequential
arguments derive from facts that have no mutual support.
Consequential
arguments are those derived from facts which lend each other mutual support and are by
some regarded as forming a separate kind of argument, which they call ?? t?? p??? ?????a,
arguments from things mutually related (5, 10, 73)
Arguments
from causes (5, 10, 80)
Arguments
from conjugation (5, 10, 85)
Arguments
from apposite or comparative (5, 10, 86)
Arguments
from genus to species (5, 10, 90)
Arguments
from admitted facts (5, 10, 90)
Arguments
from fictitious suppositions (5, 10, 95)
Arguments
from circumstances (pe??stas??) (5, 10, 104)
3. Places
(topoi) of Arguments in Rhetoric according to Quintilian
II The
Model: Towards a Foundation of Argument and Argumentation in Linguistics
Propedeuticum: Linguistics
as Grammaticalization and Structures of Meaning and Argumentation
1. Meaning as the Condition of Existence in Language
What makes humans able to communicate is actually highly based on the exchange of meanings. In languages we exchange meanings and not objects. I say that the apple is green and I give the apple to someone is a depending status. It depends as a conditional perspective of linguistic features that are meaning in relation to human understanding of the world. Having an apple in the hand and giving it to another person is an active process without a meaning. Science depends on language. Science as the essence of knowledge approached in a reasonable, communicable and communicated way with an intersubjectively agreed linguistic output for the concrete knowledge of the topic of the scientific approach. Linguistics here must not considered as a specific scientific discipline regarding the studies of language(s). Linguistics in the general disposition of the relation between the language and the surrounding it is placed in faces any science. It is a conditio sine qua non. Facing this condition, we can conclude that the barrier between the hard and the soft science, the pure science and the applied sciences, the humanities and the other core fields of academic studies are actually not relevantly facing the condition of the relation between language and knowledge in general.
Theory of Language as a Semiotic Unit
Language is a semiotic unit based upon selected and fixed semiotic unit. For example a letter serves as a sign for a phonetic value or a group to phonetically tradited sounds serves as a sign for a word. A unit of letters or sounds share a common meaning. The meaning `DOG` is represented in the phonetic values of the acoustic sign `d-o-g` and the letters d o g. The words represent also a meaning, which can be expressed for example in an image showing a dog.
Entity of Linguistics
Linguistic Unit
Reference to Object Has Meaning
Representation Unit Subject of Reference
Depending Status Autonomous Status
e.g. in descriptions e.g. in numbers
4. Semiotic Dimensions of Language
In the tradition
of de Saussure we connect semiotics and grammaticalization with the assumption that each
grammatical unit carries a meaning. In grammatical theories the specific meanings are
typologically classified in descriptive terms for the related phenomena in concrete
utterances.
Meaning as Indicator of Grammatical
Constitution
Meaning as Indicator of
Semiotic Connotations
5. Semiotics and
Grammar: Meaning of the Grammatical Level and Semiotic Level
An example we
take the sentence:
1 I
go quickly in the
big house.
.
2 Pronoun
Verb Adverb
Preposition Article Adjective Noun.
3 Subject
Predicate Adverbial Attribute Adverbial Expression with Attribute
Predicativum
S
P
O
1 Original Sentence
2 Grammatical Descriptions
3 Description of Syntax
In common language we often say that we have no reason to do something. Such phrases indicate that the action of reasoning is already internalized and that we reflect the reason as the result of the mental activity. The principle of reason, as important as it is in the history of philosophy, shared with the other sciences and the common ordinary life, but also with spiritual and religious thinking, the importance of the word, the Greek term logos is its origin. Reason can produce meaning depending on the principles and methods we apply as strategies for reasoning. The produces meanings derive from the technical processes that fall under the category of reasoning. This is a general question and it touches everything around us starting from the number system we use to the sensual experience, which makes us able to approach the world around us with our senses. Hard sciences and full science operates based upon connoted meanings that are standardized and known among the group of the users. In linguistics, we ask questions about the general conditions of language and the specific forms that produce language and the special forms and types of languages. The abitily to translate one language into another language allows us to assume that there are general common features languages share that are transmittable and transformable meanings. This not only involves that translation of a word into another language we can call the transformation of a term. It also includes recognizable pattern of languages that are transformable and transferable from one language into another. Here we have the condition of two unequal objects, e.g. sentences that are different and not identical in the way they appear. The one who knows the linguistic conditions of the meta-system they derived from, the specific language, and the linguistic features they possess both in common, might be able to do the translation. Language is genetic and changeable under certain conditions. It is not an elementary entity in the way it is practically used and differentiated into different languages. It is as an entity elementary. It includes several features that allow considering it as a condition of the hard ad the soft science as well as the condition of science eo ipso. Common theories of linguistics access linguistics in differentiation between several areas and one among them is semantics interested in the production of meanings. But it is rather selected to see semantics as just a branch on linguistics and semiotics not as a general condition of language. The semeion, the sign, is the general quality a language has. Any piece of language stands for something else and its function is also not the self-reference to itself, but the reference to something else. The same can be different depending on the context it appears in. We can compare this to a situation where the same color appears lighter or darker depending on its surrounding or visual effects that make an object appear in another way. The same thing can become different and get a different meaning. Especially in the context of diachrone linguistics, the word can have several different meanings and changes of meanings occur. The actual event or object meant, when using a word changes for example in the case of the word “reception”, which means the process of receiving e.g. in academic language and the word used as a place and event where people meet. (We will also see a change of semiotics below for “mean”). The meaning is here the produced attribute of the sign, in our case the sign is a word. Bearers of meaning (signs) can be words. Objects in our world have no meaning. We also cannot argue about them or apply arguments to them. The place of argumentation is not the `real world`. Argumentation works with signs. In other words: We produce with argumentation a (new) meaning. This is e.g. obvious in the processes of inductive reasoning stepping from “All humans are mortal” over “Socrates is a human” to the new meaning “Socrates is mortal”. The (derived) meaning is here the specific constellation between the subject (Socrates) and the predicate (is mortal). Language is a concept that consists of meanings associated between written phonetic expressions and graphics positioned in a specific way organized according to commonly shared rules among the persons that use it. Language enables us to describe objects and processes in praesentia and in absentia, existing or not existing. Language acts in several ways to represent meaning. In the following cases the meaning is on the grammatical level indicated by the abstract categories of parts of speeches and the inflected use of the related words.
Verb
I am great.
Noun
The greatness of the person
Adjective
The great person.
Adverb
The
person is known as greatly performing.
Preposition
With
the greatness …
Conjunction
When
this person was great, …
Interjection
Oh,
how great!
Verb
I
mean the person.
Noun
The
meaning of the person
Adjective
The mean person
Adverb
The person
is meanly skilled.
Preposition
With
the meaning
Conjunction
When I meant this
person
Interjection
How mean!
The
meaning of “mean” is in the examples of the verb, noun, preposition, and
conjunction different from the one used in the phrases with adjective, adverb, and
interjection.
Verb
I am poor.
Noun
The poorness of the person
Adjective
The poor person.
Adverb
The
person is poorly known.
Preposition
With the poorness …
Conjunction
When this person was poor,
…
Interjection
Oh, how poor!
6. Paradigms of Word Change in
Parts of Speech
What
distinguishes the categories of parts of speech is the difference between them as sign for
an entity or a quality refering to the entity. Refering to the real world these are
esthetical categories.
Entity
Noun
Action
of Entity
Verb
Attribute
of Entity
Adjective
Attribute
of Action of Entity
Adverb
Condition
of Entity
Preposition
Condition
of Action of Entity
Conjunction
Emotion/Comment
Interjection
Esthetical
Category
Linguistic
Category
7. Meaning
as Reference between Esthetical Categories and Linguistic Categories
2. Meaning in
Linguistics
2.1. Meaning
and Morphological Level
Starting from
the morphological perspective and the relationship between related lexemes, for example
the verb "speak", the adjective "spoken", the noun "speech",
we can assume that the basic form for a word with the grammatical function changes, while
the basic morphological elements do not change. A part of the word is a carrier of meaning
indicating grammatical function and the related meaning in this word. In German the
indication of the grammatical function is even more obvious; the verb
"sprechen", the adjective "gesprochen", the noun "Sprache"
refer to a specific grammatical function of each word. Meaning as indicator of semiotic
connotations can be expressed by definitions or in words with identical meanings. The
analysis of morphological structure of a single word and the comparisons of structures
allows to describe the changes between words (or lexems) that have similarities (e.g.
speak and speech).
2.2. Semiotic Level
The first line's
meaning can be expressed in the paraphrase "A person speaking about himself/herself
says that he/she goes in a house that is big." This derived semiotic meaning is
limited. A semiotic analysis world include all connotations that an utterance contains.
2.3. Grammatical
Level
The second line
contains the indicators of the grammatical constitution according to traditional
grammatical terms.
2.4. Syntactical
Level
The third line
refers to syntax and the constellation of parts of speech, in our case SPO. A complete
syntactical analysis would include the description of the relations of parts of speech (or
parts of an utterance).
2.5. Other
Grammatical Structures
Other
grammatical structures are phonetics (with a description of the phonetical constitution
based upon an internationalized transcription alphabet), pragmatics (with the description
of the function of the utterance in a communicative perspective), and discourse analysis
(with the description of texts). Also rhetorical analysis falls in the area of other
linguistic structures to be analyzed. In the classical understanding of the humanities,
the argument has to act as a valididator of a statement. In linguistics a valid sentence
relies on the Proper use of a linguistic setting structure of grammar:
Syntactical
structure
Proper setting of words in sentence
Semantic
structure
Proper meaning of words and sentence
Morphological
structure Proper words
Phonetical
structure
Proper phonetics
8. Topical Structure of Linguistic
Arguments
The syntactical
structure is the most comprehensive one. We can define an argument as a valididator of any
of the structures mentioned above.
Arguments of
the Syntactical structure
for Proper setting of
words in sentence
Arguments of
the Semantic structure
for Proper meaning of words and sentence
Arguments of
the Morphological structure
for Proper words
Arguments of
the Phonetical structure
for Proper phonetics (when
spoken)
9.
General
Linguistic Arguments
Any argument is
in the sentence or a word the element that refers to the validity of the sentence.
Example:
I give him the
book.
Here the
validity is archieved using a fitting syntactical structure matching the construction SPO
in English, a semantically clear composition of selected words that have a fixed
morphological structure.
Contrastive
example missing the arguments:
I his book
giving.
2.6. Congruence as Argument for Grammatical Structure
Congruence is
the state of agreement. Different languages have different levels of congruence depending
on 1. the markers of words or 2. syntactical positions they use to show the congruence.
English: I give him the book.
German: Ich gebe ihm das Buch.
Spanish: I le da el libro.
All three
languages, English, German, and Spanish, have the same SPO syntax for subjet I,
verb, and the accusative object except that in Spanish the dative object is placed after
the verb. In German and Spanish exists a unique congruence between the verb and the
subject marked by a suffix indicating the related person (1st person singular).
In English this marker doesn't exist (except in the case of the 3rd person
singular). Languages weak in inflections of words like English force linguists to look for
descriptions facing syntactical structures instaed of lacking morphological indicators or
individual word classes and their grammatical structures. In English basic linguistic
theories the argument is considered to be the noun(s) attached to the verb. It is a
functional approach with a defined and a undefined quality. We present now a definition of
the argument as an element of a function. This function is the sentence, the smaller unit
of syntax. We can express this function in the following formula:
f(x)= a + y
When a is
here the noun or a similar object (for example the pronoun "I") and y the
verb (the argument), e.g. an inflected form of to give matching the congruence with the
noun, the results of the function are in the English language much more identical with
other forms of the verb than in the German language. In German the inflected forms would
determ a relative destinct number of results that fit. German "gebe" for example
would only allow a sentence with a subject of 1st Person Singular to be
generated. Here y would be only one value, in our case “gebe”. On the
contrary, just syntactically determining languages with no or less inflection of a verb
need less congruence between noun and verb or subject and predicate.
The function of the sentence
f(x)= a + y can be realized
in English with the argument “give” as
f(x)= I + give
f(x)= You + give But not:
f(x)= He, she, it + gives
f(x)= We + give
f(x)= You + give
f(x)= They + give |
The function of
the sentence
f(x)= a + y can be realized
in German with the argument “gebe” as
f(x)= Ich
+ gebe But not:
f(x)= Du + gibst But not:
f(x)= Er, sie, es + gibt But not:
f(x)= Wir + geben But not:
f(x)= Ihr + gebt But not:
f(x)= Sie + geben |
10. Valid and Invalid Arguments of a Linguistic Function
III The Argumentation Model
We can
distinguish between the micro area of argumentation of a linguistic syntactic unit (the
sentence) referring to the elements of the sentence and the macro area referring to the
linguistic unit as an element in an argumentation process; this is the case in deductive
and inductive reasoning, when sentences form the propositions or conclusion. The micro
area of argumentation refers to argumentative structures in linguistics and arguments on
the linguistic level.
Micro Area Linguistics
Macro
Area Argumentation in Exterior
Settings
Micro Area
Linguistic
Theory
Linguistic
aspects Grammaticalisation
Syntax Structure
Morphology
Structure
Semantics Meaning
Lexical
structures Word
Phonetics
Orality
Linguistic
Setting
Macro Areas Literary
Structure Text
Type / Forms / Genres
Semiotics
Meaning
Rhetoric
Persuasion
Logic
Validitation
Post-Linguistic
Setting
Media
Performance
Techniques
Medial
Setting. Communication
11. Areas of Argumentation in
Micro and Macro Areas of Language Studies
The
argumentative structure of a sentence from a linguistic perspective is based upon the
proper implementation of linguistic structures and rules. Only if theses criteria exist,
the sentence is communicable and can serve as an argument in the macro area, e.g. in a
philosophical induction.
At home I listened
to the song yesterday in the
afternoon played
by a local radio station.
Where Who
What
When
How
12.
Example of Event. Topological Elements of a Statement of Evidence
We can also
distinguish between argumentation relying of intrinsic or extrinsic arguments. The
intrinsic arguments derive from the use of the language eo ipso, while the
extrinsic arguments rely on exterior factors. Deductive and inductive argumentation are
related to intrinsic and extrinsic arguments.
Deduction Intrinsic Argumentation / Arguments
from universals
/ Arguments from typology of linguistic phenomena
Induction Extrinsic Argumentation / Arguments
from contexts,
relations of language to exterior things
13. Intrinsic and Extrinsic
Argumentation in Linguistic Theory
The formula
f(x)= a + y as the function we used previously in order to describe the minimal condition
for the syntax of a sentence consisting of a subject and a predicate, e.g. a verb and a
noun, we can extent the formula adding the other elements called parts of speech:
f(x)= a + b + c + d + e + f + g + h +
y
f(x)= I + give + the new book + to him + immediately,
+ if + needs, + yeah!
f(x)= a + y + (g + b + a) +
(f + a) + c,
+ e + y, + f!
y Verb
a
Noun and replacements of nouns
b
Adjective
c
Adverb
d
Preposition
e
Conjunction
f
Interjection
g
Article
14. Example for Lingusitic Functions as
Arguments of Syntax
This example
refers now to just one level of linguistics, the syntax. We will look now at other levels
of linguistics, in which we have a similar separation of functional arguments according to
the linguistic functions of lexicology, semantics, and phonetics. Instead of a definition
of y to g as grammatical parts of speech we chose in the paradigm above, we can also
replace the values of the variables by values taken from the International Phonetic
Alphabet (IPA) in order to have a matrix for the description of functions for
the phonetival level of a sentence. Here each
variable as reference to the phonetic acticulation of words serves as an argument for the
valid pronounciation making the sentence understandable and communicable. In the case of a
lexical or semantic set of values represented by variables, the chosen variables can be
the same like in the case of the syntactic example above with the addition of semantic
meanings for each unit, e.g. the value of the variable a with the value `book` would be
added with the description `written set of collected papers of a size in a order arranged
referring to a title` or a valid common definition. Using the model applied to the morphological linguistic
structure, we can use the matrix of the syntactical arguments above again with the
addition of the morphological stem of each part of speech.
In our model the
argument is represented in a functional linguistic approach as a syntactic element we
indicate here by a letter. Each of the letters can represent an argument. In our case the y
for the verb represents an argument of the narrative unit, the sentence. We saw previously
that the argument y must match with the conditions defined by a, the noun,
so that grammatical congruence between them exists. But also semantic and semiotic
congruence must be given. (We could e.g. not take the verb “eat” for the
sentence). Also the phonetic realization of the word must be proper, so that we are able
to communicate the sentence successfully to another person.
IV Conclusions
We come now to
the following working definitions for argument and argumentation in linguistics: The argument
is any matching element in written or spoken language that allows the whole text unit to
present a meaningful unit regarding the linguistic parts of lexicology, syntax, semantics,
phonetics, and morphology. Argumentation is as a theoretical structural element in
linguistic the process that allows a narrated text to be linguistically proper in order to
be communicated. The model here allows us to connect the grammatical linguistic levels as
basic levels of linguistics to more complex units related to utterances such as rhetoric,
logic, and semiotics. We have seen that in linguistic theories the argumentation has quite
different functions and that here the theoretical approaches are neither compatible nor
can they be intregrated to one model. What we presented in the second part of this article
as linguistic model of argumentation is the integration of the classical definition of
argumentation in rhetorical and logical science. A linguistic model employing
argumentation must use a definition of argumentation fitting with the classical
definitions in rhetoric and logic. In our model the argument is a superstructural element
of any linguistic utterance, which completes the utterance matching the needs of
linguistic brances. When the argumentation (i.e. the use of proper arguments) is
successfully and valid, we have a linguistic unit, which can be integrated in a discourse
or can serve in a rhetorical setting. It is also communicable and can be narrated.
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