ENERGEIA. ONLINE JOURNAL FOR LINGUISTICS, LANGUAGE PHILOSOPHY AND HISTORY OF LINGUISTICS

Hansbert Bertsch (1941–2022)

Fritz Abel — 2022-10-15

Norms, language-specific meanings and schemas. A Coserian perspective on contemporary concepts in linguistics

Klaas Willems — 2022-10-15

Eugenio Coseriu’s (1921–2002) seminal contributions to linguistic theory went largely unnoticed in mainstream linguistic research in the English-speaking world. This paper discusses three concepts that have loomed large in present-day linguistics and were already addressed in the work of Coseriu. The paper focuses on the question whether Coseriu’s contributions might be a stepping stone to establishing synergies with current strands of linguistic research, also with a view to determining the topicality of Coseriu’s approach to concepts that are at the centre of ongoing discussion. The three concepts dealt with in the paper are: 1) Coseriu’s well-established theory of language norms against the backdrop of the (Neo-)Gricean pragmatic theory of generalised conversational implicatures and default inferences; 2) Coseriu’s detailed exposition of schematic meanings in syntax and word formation as compared to cognitive approaches within the frameworks of Construction Grammar and Construction Morphology; 3) Coseriu’s elaborate account of general language-specific meanings (G. “Bedeutungen”, Fr. “signifiés”, Sp. “significados”) in light of recent developments in psycholinguistic research which focuses on the role of semantic underspecification in meaning representations. The paper argues that Coseriu’s work has the potential to offer solutions for a number of as yet unresolved issues in the study of pragmatics, syntax, word formation and semantics.

Exploring the ‘augmented reality’ of ‘real’ texts: A Coserian perspective

Emma Tămâianu-Morita — 2022-10-15

The paper examines Eugenio Coseriu’s project of a “text linguistics as a hermeneutics of sense” on the backdrop of the wider – “integral” – map for the study of language / speaking as a cultural activity. The aims and objectual scope of this type of text linguistics, as well as its limitations and outer limits, i.e. its conceivable interfaces with other disciplines of textuality, in particular with text semiotics and poetics, are discussed from the viewpoint of a critical-constructive question: if / to what extent the conceptual construction envisaged by Coseriu in the latter part of the 20^th century is still meaningful, feasible and productive today. The “critical-aesthetic perspective” in the study of speaking as a creative activity proposed by Ana Agud offers clarifying interpretations on several conceptual and methodological points which we hold to be directly relevant for text linguistics; these are used in the course of the discussion in order to shed light on the notion of ‘real (genuine) text’ as the legitimate focus of text-linguistic investigations in a Coserian framework.

Etymology in Coseriu’s linguistics and the relevance of phrasemic etymons

Benjamín García Hernández — 2022-10-15

Etymology is a lesser-known aspect of Coseriu’s research because he published no specific works of detail or size on this topic. However, to trawl through his work and count the many times he touches upon etymology in either theory or practice is an impossible task. After a short introduction, in the second section we review six of his articles on the subject, two of which are historiographical. In the third, we focus our attention on phrasemic etymology, for which he was a strong advocate. In both sections, we find an opportunity to demonstrate subsequent advances in etymological science, thanks to the semantic criteria proposed by Coseriu.

Norm, Analogy and Variation: Empirical Perspectives on the Irregular Forms of the Superlative in Spanish

Stefanie Goldschmitt — 2022-10-15

In this paper we address one of the central themes of Eugenio Coseriu's work: the concept and importance of both prescriptive and descriptive norms. Taking as a starting point the irregular forms of the superlative in Spanish, we discuss five adjectives (negro, pobre, libre, célebre and fértil) within the area of tension between norm, variation and analogy and present the results of an empirical acceptability study with Spanish students. The results of the survey show that, at least in the case of the adjectives pobre, libre and célebre, the learned forms of the superlative in -érrimo cannot yet be assumed to have completely disappeared and been replaced by the analogous forms in -ísimo. However, it is indisputable that a linguistic change can be observed, in which the descriptive norm seems to prevail.

“El español de América y la Unidad del idioma” after thirty years. Linguistic ethics and exemplary Spanish

Soledad Chávez Fajardo — 2022-10-15

In the text “The Spanish of America and the unity of the language” (1990), Coseriu reflected on a series of relevant issues of language policy. These themes focused, among others, on the need to achieve a language unity; the relevance of working with an exemplary language or the promotion of multilingualism within the Spanish language. In addition, Coseriu touched on controversial issues, such as the fact that the exemplary nature of the language unit should take Spanish from Spain as a model, for a number of reasons. However, in his linguistic planning proposal, Coseriu will nuance this idea. The purpose of this article is to reflect on these concepts, proposals and problematic aspects. I will do it from a historiographical point of view and from a linguistic ideology perspective. In turn, I will reflect on a concept that Coseriu outlines and has to do with linguistic ethics.

The Place of Language Contact within Eugenio Coseriu’s Theoretical Framework

Vincenzo Orioles — 2022-10-15

Coseriu's reflection on interlingual contact fits coherently into the Romanian scholar's overall theoretical edifice, recalling and confirming its cornerstones and main antinomies. Thus, for example, exogenous influences come into play against the background of his conception of linguistic change and, in particular, the dialectic between 'innovation' and 'adoption'. Another criterion asserted by the scholar is connected with the well-known distinction between 'system' and 'norm': not all innovations acting on the 'norm' produce effects on the equilibrium of the 'system'. The contribution then examines individual aspects of language contact, including the peculiar manifestations of interference in the adult and educated speaker and the weight to be assigned to substrate influences. While not ignoring Weinreich's contribution to the thematisation of contact, Coseriu's theoretical position is characterised by the fact that he elaborates an explanatory model that incorporates exogenous innovation “in den Rahmen einer Theorie des Sprechens”, placed on the same level as internal creations within a language.

Joe Larochette and Eugenio Coseriu: connections around semantics and grammatical categories

Pierre Swiggers — 2022-10-15

The edition of three letters sent by the Belgian Romance scholar Joe Larochette (1914-2005) to Eugenio Coseriu (1921-2002) is preceded by an overview of the career of J. Larochette who, from a general linguistic point of view, also studied African languages, and by a contextualization of the scholarly contacts between E. Coseriu and J. Larochette. The latter was deeply influenced by E. Coseriu’s conception of synchrony, diachrony and history, by his views on grammatical categories, and by his distinction between ‘signification’ and ‘denotation’. Following the lead of E. Coseriu’s semantics, J. Larochette elaborated a theory of semantics extended towards the domain of text linguistics. The specific context of the three letters edited here was the planning of a colloquium of which one section was to be devoted to the problem of aspect and ‘aspectuality’ (grammatical and lexical aspect).

To know is to distinguish

Alfredo Matus Olivier — 2022-10-15

The right and wrong approaches in translation theory

Eugenio Coseriu — 2022-10-15

Nature image and language

Eugeniu Coșeriu — 2022-10-15