Editorial notes: The content below is what looks like the beginning of a collection of quotes and thoughts gathered from Florian Coulmas’ [I] Writings Systems; an introduction to their linguistic analysis“[II].
Chapter 1
Aristotle “On Interpretation” :
Words spoken are symbols of affections or impressions of the soul; written words are symbols of words spoken. And just as letters are not the same for all men, sounds are not the same either, although the affections directly expressed by these indications are the same for everyone, as are the things of which these impressions are images.
Liu Hsieh “Carving of the Literary Dragon” :
When the mind is at work, speech is uttered. When speech is uttered, writing is produced.
The Tao inspires writing and writing illuminates the Tao. What in mind is idea when expressed in speech is poetry. Isn’t this what we are doing when dashing off writing to record reality?
Writing originated when drawing of bird trace replaced string knitting.
Plato “Phaedrus” :
Written words are unnecessary, except to remind him who knows the matter about which they are written.
[Consider the original creation of a written word. It is an act that takes what was previously always transient and gives it a lasting form. The readers already know that words can be extracted from their ephemeral form, but the original speakers did not realize this possibility. Now consider the possibility of extracting words from yet another limitation; remove another shackle that was mistakenly thought necessary.]
Ferdinand de Saussure :
Language and writing are two distinct systems of signs; the second exists for the sole purpose of representing the first. The linguistic object is not both the written and the spoken forms of words; the spoken forms alone constitute the object.
[The contents of this chapter are not entirely convincing in themselves directly, but I suggest that instead, the cases be considered as illustrations and that the lesson learned requires experiencing these thought experiments as a method for achieving the goal perception (to which I return shortly). I generalize the illustrations by describing them as cultural and historical paradigms in which a substantially different conception of writing is co-represented with a substantially different conception of the meaning of language. So while it might be a shame that I am reticent (i.e. being generous but reasonable to the author) to admit the likelihood of the interpretations produced in the book, having realized that they might serve a greater purpose, I am able to (1) sandbox my considerations of the cases, and appreciate them even if I need some mode of suspended disbelief, and (2) recreate the necessary pathway by my own strategy to achieve the same purpose. NOW I stop and note that it would be more than helpful if I could remember more about the supposed goal…!]
- Various relations of writing to language are conceivable
- Aristotle-derived “surrogationalism” is not necessary as a theory
- Could writing impact language (cf. the traditional assumption that language is fundamentally immutable, which justifies eschewing reference to writing it linguistics)
- E.g. writing in culture assists awareness of phonology, and concepts like “sentence”
- Cf. consideration of writing as “glottic” versus non-glottic in the case of mathematics or musical notation
- Cf. writing as evolved from tool for communication rather than for representation of speech
Chapter 2.
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz:
I remember telling you about a plan for an extraordinary character which would be a means of painting not speech but thoughts like algebraic facts in mathematics. Putting one’s discourse into this character one would make calculations and proofs rationally. I believe we could find a method to combine this with the ancient characters of the Chinese.
[I] “Florian Coulmas (born 5 June 1949 in Hamburg) is a German linguist and author. He is Senior Professor for Japanese Society and Sociolinguistics at the University of Duisburg-Essen.” For further details see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florian_Coulmas.[II] “The book Writing Systems: An Introduction to Their Linguistic Analysis provides an accessible introduction to the major writing systems of the world, from cuneiform to English spelling. Florian Coulmas presents detailed descriptions of the world’s writing systems and explains their structural complexities as well as the intricate relationship between written and spoken language. The book also provides a clear and engaging account of the history of writing and its consequences for human thought and literate society.” For further details see https://books.google.com.au/books?id=kmKLxzTnL9IC&redir_esc=y
