Theory of Language: The Representational Function of Language(25 Foundations of Semiotics)

Karl Bühler (1879-1963) was one of the leading theoreticians of language of this century. His masterwork Sprachtheorie (1934) has been praised widely and gained considerable recognition in the fields of linguistics, semiotics, the philosophy of language and the psychology of language. The work has, however, resisted translation into English partly because of its spirited and vivid style, partly because of the depth and range of analysis, partly because of the great erudition of the author, who displays a thorough command of both the linguistic and the philosophical traditions. With this translation, Bühler's ideas on many problems that are still controversial and others only recently rediscovered, are now accessible to the English-speaking world.Contents: The work is divided into four parts. Part I discusses the four “axioms” or principles of language research, the most famous of which is the first, the “organon model”, the base of Bühler's instrumental view of language. Part II treats the role of indexicality in language and discusses deixis as one determinant of speech. Part III examines the symbolic field, dealing with context, onomatopoeia and the function of case. Part IV deals with the elements of language and their organization (syllabification, the definition of the word, metaphor, anaphora, etc).The text is accompanied by: Translator's preface; Introduction (by Achim Eschbach); Glossary of terms and Bibliography of cited works (both compiled by the translator); Index of names, Index of topics.

Table of Contents:
1. Editor's Introduction: Kari Buhler: Sematologist; 2. Translator's Preface; 3. Preface; 4. Introduction: Theory of Language Yesterday and Today; 5. 0. Historical Works; 6. 1. Paul's "Principles of the History of Language": Dependency on Descartes - Natural sciences and history; 7. 2. Saussure's Cours: Substance-oriented thought in the 19th century; 8. 3. Husserl's programme in the "Logical Investigations"; 9. I. The Principles of Language Research; 10. 1. The Idea and Plan of the Axiomatics; 11. 1.0 Observations and the ideas guiding research; 12. 1.1 Exact recordings: three manners of understanding; 13. 1.2 Initial object of linguistic research: the conceptual world of the linguistic researcher; 14. 1.3 Axioms of language research; 15. 1.4 The four principles; 16. 2. The Model of Language as Organon (A); 17. 2.0 Manners of appearance of the concrete speech event; 18. 2.1 Inadequacy of the causal view of substance-oriented thought; 19. 2.2 The new model: the three semantic functions of language; 20. 2.3 Expression and appeal as independent variables in addition to representation: the three books on language; 21. 3. The Significative Nature of Language (B); 22. 3.0 The constructive model of language; 23. 3.1 The etyma of the words for sign; 24. 3.2 Direct analysis of the concept of sign: comparative psychology - a general formula; 25. 3.3 "Aliquid stat pro aliquo": two determinations; 26. 3.4 The principle of abstractive relevance, illustrated by phonology; 27. 3.5 The problem of abstraction; 28. 3.6 Two forms of material fallacy; 29. 4. Speech Action and Language Work; Speech Act and Language Structure (C); 30. 4.0 Inadequacy of previous dichotomies: the four-celled pattern; 31. 4.1 Speech action and language work: empractical speech - la parole; 32. 4.2 The work of art in language: the theory of speech action; 33. 4.3 The structures in language: criticism - structural survey in linguistics - the higher level of formalization - comparisons outside the linguistic realm - intersubjectivity; 34. 4.4 Theory of speech acts - Steinthal and Husserl: appreciation of Husserl's theory of acts - the social factor in language; 35. 5. Word and Sentence: The S-F-System of the Type Language (D); 36. 5.0 The features of the concept of language; 37. 5.1 Analysis of a one-class system of communicative signals; 38. 5.2 The two-class system language: the dogma of lexicon and syntax; 39. 5.3 The productivity of field systems; 40. 5.4 Logic and linguistics; 41. II. The Deictic Field of Language and Deictic Words; 42. Introduction; 43. The signpost and the speech action; 44. The deictic field - modes of deixis; 45. Wegener and Brugmann as predecessors; 46. Speech about perceptual things; 47. Psychological analysis; 48. 6. The Psychological Foundations of the Modes of Positional Deixis in Indo-European; 49. 6.0 Brugmann's modes of deixis and the general problem; 50. 6.1 The myth of the deictic origin of language; 51. 6.2 *to-deixis and ille-deixis; 52. 6.3 The second and third deictic mode; 53. 6.4 Natural deictic clues; 54. 6.5 Quality of origin and the acoustic characterization of the voice; 55. 6.6 Directions in thou-deixis and istic-deixis; 56. 6.7 Yonder-deixis; 57. 6.8 A general question; 58. 7. The Origin of the Deictic Field and its Mark; 59. 7.0 The here-now-I system of subjective orientation; 60. 7.1 The meaning of the deictic words from a logical perspective; 61. 7.2 The words for 'here' and 'I' as cognates; 62. 7.3 The indispensability of deictic clues; 63. 7.4 The role of 'I' and 'thou'; 64. 7.5 The usual classification of the pronouns: criticism; 65. 7.6 The necessity of demonstration; 66. 8. Imagination-Oriented Deixis and the Anaphoric Use of Deictic Words; 67. 8.0 The second and third modes of deixis; 68. 8.1 Ocular demonstration and imagination-oriented deixis as a psychological problem; 69. 8.2 Subjective orientation when awake and its components; 70. 8.3 Spatial orientation and deictic speech; 71. 8.4 Movement of the origo in the tactile bodily image; 72. 8.5 Temporal orientation; 73. 8.6 The three types of imagination-oriented deixis; 74. 8.7 Psychological reduction; 75. 8.8 Displacements: dramatic and epic procedure; 76. 9. Egocentric and Topomnestic Deixis in Various Languages; 77. 9.0 The deictic field; 78. 9.1 The inclusive and exclusive 'we'; 79. 9.2 Coalescence of deictic particles with prepositions; 80. 9.3 Egocentric and topomnestic deixis: the class of 'prodemonstratives' - examples from Japanese and Amerindian languages