On the ‘Primitivity’ as a Feature of Sound Symbolic Words and the Diachronic Interpretation of this Fact

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Abstract:

The sound symbolism in language is investigated in the light of the orthogenetic principle of Heinz Werner, which states that “wherever development occurs it proceeds from a state of relative globality and lack of differentiation to a state of increasing differentiation, articulation, and hierarchic integration”. According to this principle one phenomenon is considered to be cognitively more primitive if in its development it is closer to the pole with lack of differentiation. The paper shows that the lack of differentiation can be seen in the nature of sound symbolic denomination as iconic, phonetically motivated signs and in all of their features – pragmatic, semantic, phonetic, grammatical. From this point of view sound symbolism can be defined as a primitive and ancient linguistic phenomenon. Neurolinguistic data confirms this conclusion.

Keywords:

sound symbolism, iconicity, language development, Heinz Werner's orthogenetic principle of development, primitivity, interpretation of neurolinguistic data.

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