Authors of the 17th Century Philosophical

Languages on Ambiguity

Alena A. FidlerováUniverzita Karlova v

Praze

Discussed works (1st editions) COMENIUS, Johannes Amos. Novissima

lingvarum methodus (1648). COMENIUS, Johannes Amos. Panglottia. Novae Harmonicae Lingvae tentamen primum. Part of De Rerum Humanarum Emendatione Consultatio Catholica (not printed in his lifetime).

DALGARNO, George. Ars signorum (1661). WILKINS, John. An Essay towards a Real

Character and a Philosophical Language (1668).

Selected secondary literature MAAT, Jaap. Philosophical Languages in the Seventeenth

Century: Dalgarno, Wilkins, Leibniz. Dordrecht, Boston, London: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004.

LEWIS, Rhodri. Language, Mind and Nature: Artificial Languages in England from Bacon to Locke. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.

SLAUGHTER, M. M. Universal Language Schemes and Scientific Taxonomy in the Seventeenth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.

KNOWLSON, James. Universal Language Schemes in England and france 1600–1800. Toronto, Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1975.

STILLMAN, Robert E. The New Philosophy and Universal Languages in Seventeenth Century England: Bacon, Hobbes, and Wilkins. Lewisburg: Bucknell University Press, 1995.

Content of discussed works proposals of philosophical languages, comprising (more or less) also the critique of natural languages and discussion of theoretical foundations

Comenius: mostly theoretical considerations, examples of improvements, not a finished systematic scheme

Dalgarno: practical proposal, without much theory

Wilkins: short theory plus detailed proposal

Goals of philosophical languages to enable (international) communication free of misunderstandings

to facilitate true understanding of the world

hypothesis: ambiguity (other than one-to-one relation

between individual elements of language or between language and reality) should be perceived as an obstacle, which is to be removed

there may be differences in the approach to this problem in different authors

Critique of existing languages defect deficiency imperfection irregularity anomaly mutability

ambiguity – cause of forming non-identical or dubious notions

arbitrarinesss

Common foundations Aristotelian concept of language

universal extra-linguistic reality (things) universal notions (reflections, pictures of things) arbitrary spoken language as a primary sign system

(symbols) arbitrary written language as a secondary sign system

Baconian modification possibility of a primary written sign system thus: there may be written signs corresponding to

things, to notions or to sounds and words

Biblical concept of the origin of language diversity punishment for human pride negative

Consequences – essence of language Language perceived primarily as a nomenclature, a system of “marks“ denoting things and/or notions, which are afterwards connected according to more or less rational rules

Philosophical language must consist in the improvement (systematization) of this nomenclature and rationalization of the rules of connection

Modification of this concept Comenius:

explicit Platonism (real existence of ideas, preceding the existence of things)

language is also a rational human performance during which people

communicate to each other their feelings by means of articulated sound – always interpersonal

a bond of the society his concept of language includes speakers and

hearers does not consist of things – notions – words but of things – minds – words

or, alternatively, when speaking about human nature: reason – language – activity

Possible sources of ambiguity origin and original properties of language (if preserved)

corruption after Babel mutability through time imperfect knowledge (caused of the weakness of human cognitive abilities)

corruption of knowledge caused by the faults of language

existence of written language as a secondary sign system

Mutability Comenius:

mutability of languages in time (unconscious; in pronunciation, forms of words, usage of words)

mutual mixing of languages languages may be improved by cultivation (in more

learned nations) Wilkins:

mutability characteristic to anything human mutual mixing of nations (due to commerce, royal

marriages, conquests) intentional creation of new words and phrases

(deliberate “refining”, new inventions, advance of learning) – strengthened by the progress in learning

languages can come into being (e. g. by creolization, long-lasting gradual change) or die naturally

any change of natural language = gradual corruption

Imperfect knowledge caused by language imperfect pairing of words to notions

no one-to one relation figurative language and phraseology

imperfect notions caused by corrupted language learning foreign languages with words of slightly

different meanings imperfect pairing of primary (speech) to secondary

(script) sign system

problem: circular relation between knowledge and language imperfect knowledge causes imperfect language,

imperfect language causes imperfect knowledge

Possible location of ambiguity in natural languages sounds and letters: no one-to-one

correspondence, no natural relation between sounds, letters (shape) and qualities of things

lexicon: no one-to-one correspondence of things and notions to words

grammar: no precise correspondence of (correct way) of human thinking and morphology and syntax

common demand: precise correspondence of all language phenomena with both extra-linguistic reality and human cognition (correspondence not developmental, not the way we actually learn about the world, but the way we conceptualize it when known)

Remedies for ambiguity on the level of lexicon

completely new arrangement - the imperfection of natural languages makes it impossible to build a real/universal character on their lexicon

on the level of grammar (inflection, syntax, partly word formation) simplification and / or rational analysis

on the level of sounds and letters one-to-one correspondence and / or making secondary sign system primary

Ambiguity in lexicon: numberGeneral supposition: there should be one-to-one relationship between things and words, any diversion from this causes ambiguity

things / notions are primary, words secondary

One name for several things Comenius:

homonymy: makes things uncertain and dark like a country with uncertain borders susceptible

to invasions but idioms are indications of refinement and very

expressive Wilkins:

equivocals: make speech doubtful and obscure (want of sufficient number of words)

types: absolutely (always or just some word forms), in figurative language (esp. metaphor), in phraseology (untranslatable, disguises meaning by false appearances, changeable)

Thing with several names Comenius:

synonymy: causes empty talk about nonexistent differences, mixes things together (confuses notions)

like a place with too many inhabitants (not enough space, mutual competition, hampering each other)

Wilkins: synonymy: make language tedious, superfluous (does

not contribute to effectiveness of communication) superfluous, but may be allowed for the elegance’s

sake (compounds made according to rules) Dalgarno:

allows a limited degree of synonymy in his philosophical language (words formed by the users according to given rules - for the sake of language economy)

Thing without name Comenius:

anonymy: hides things or makes us dumb or talkative (periphrases)

like a deserted and uncultivated land

Dalgarno and Wilkins: not mentioned

Ambiguity in words: meaning General supposition:

perceiving the same things people form the same notions

the relation between a word and a thing / notion is conventional, not natural

it is possible not to understand a word at all, or to assign a wrong notion to it

Causes of wrong pairing of word and notion Comenius:

wrong knowledge phylogenetic: gradual shift of meaning from one thing to another (infinite number of things with infinitely small differences between them – principle of plenitude and continuity)

onthogenetic: consequence of reversed way of constructing notions (not based on things, but on words – imprecise notions)

Uninteligible meaning Comenius: etymology: loanwords or compounds containing foreign roots are of uncertain meaning (they are not intelligible “by their own force”, from the language itself as a system, and cause distortion of notions)

words of the same class with different etymologies (e.g. Latin names of the winds) or roots (sterben – Tod)

suffixes without obvious meaning

Remedy – systematization system of words corresponding to the system of things /

notions serves to establish names by art (observing an analogical

conformity between things and signs), not at random semantically closely related words made formally similar

(showing also the degree and type of relatedness)

Comenius: rational enumeration, linear (perceives world as an

uninterrupted chain with all having its due place - end at the end etc. - and no repetitions)

Dalgarno, Wilkins: a word is defined by the place of corresponding thing in the

world, i. e. in the nomenclature several possible foundations for such a system, predicamental

order chosen (hierarchical classification of units according to their genus and species, based on Aristotle)

partly arbitrary, but unambiguous (aiming at regularity, avoiding redundancy and deficiency)

Nomenclature Comenius:

rational enumeration of things was started by Adam in the Paradise by naming based on observation of things (and not finished due to the Fall)

should encompass complete system of the world and complete wealth of human language, but using simplest words and phrases (i.e. simple words are enough)

nomenclature = „ordered sequence“ of names of all things plus detailed descriptions (including descriptions of parts, differences from other things etc.)

previously attempted in Janua – later proposes only mutually unconnected deliberations

sort of a picture, ordered descriptive narrative about the world: understandable and interesting to everybody

Nomenclature Dalgarno:

nomenclature introduces form, beauty and order into the chaos of the ideas in mind

predicamental order (genus, species, definition) chosen, but not necessary - other systems possible (e.g. mnemonic, logical analysis to most simple notions etc.)

single system of logical hierarchy, series of things with a single highest genus

dichotomy preferred, but not necessary the number of radical words should be limited,

others created by composition of radicals understandable to the learned, others can learn by

heart

Nomenclature Wilkins:

should give just enumeration and description of as many simple notions as possible (mixed notions generally expressed by periphrasis)

the most important part of a philosophical language

correct predicamental order of things and notions very important

Nomenclature - problems Dalgarno:

one notion can often be in diverse respects assigned to different predicaments – multidimensional, must be reduced to two dimensions (tables) and subsequently to one dimension (speech)

solutions necessarily arbitrary art of signs cannot be founded on strict philosophical rules

Nomenclature - necessary degree of perfection Comenius:

imperfect nomenclature is irrational and causes errors, because it adapts things to words, not other way round

perfect language (in harmony with world and understanding) is impossible without perfect nomenclature

Dalgarno: due to the number of things and their relations

nomenclature cannot be perfect (both in number and method)

not caused only by the feebleness of human mind, but also by the multiple interconnections of things

it suffices to have a series complete to some degree strict philosophical method is not necessary

Major ways of word formation Comenius:

composition from meaningful components great number of prefixes, suffixes and infixes, distinguishing e.g. species of one genus or antonyms

with the help of the general vocabulary of roots and meaningful affixes everybody will be able to create words according to strict rules (no synonymy)

Major ways of word formation Dalgarno:

radicals: according to the position in the nomenclature

others (majority): derivation, composition, periphrasis

Wilkins: according to the position in the nomenclature

Properties of words Comenius:

should completely mirror the corresponding things (number, length, composition, quality, relations to other words...) – holds also for proper names

their correspondence to things based more on iconicity than descriptiveness (complex thing – complex word, hard thing – hard sounds...)

„synonyms“ only if they signify different degrees

can make use of analogy in meaning (between material and immaterial things)

Properties of words Dalgarno:

contain partial description of corresponding things (radicals – place in the nomenclature, derivatives – salient feature)

do not signify all properties, only the important ones

their perfection depends on practical limitations (radicals) and ingenuity of the speaker (derivatives)

the same thing can be signified by several different derivatives (e. i. allows synonyms)

for the same of brevity purely arbitrary differences can be used

can be rational for the learned and arbitrary for others

Questions and problems Nomenclature should be in agreement with perfect understanding, but our understanding is imperfect – how can we create it?

Does the descriptive faculty of words mean a remedy against imperfect notions of things and shifts of meaning?

Do the tables have to be re-made after a new discovery?

Philosophical grammar Comenius:

absolute regularity conciseness (no redundancy, only natural and necessary grammatical categories, i.e. the minimal existing number in any language)

grammatical categories expressed naturally, e.g. plural by long vowel or reduplication) - iconicity

only examples, no truly general description

Philosophical grammar Dalgarno:

source of ambiguity: people learn complex phrases without analyzing them logically; surface structure sometimes disagrees with the structure of thought (abbreviations...)

→ thorough logical analysis → direct expression of the logical form of out thoughts

the word order should be the same as that of concepts of the mind or acts of reason (substantive precedes adjective etc.), all logical operations explicitly mentioned but some constructions etc. (e. g. ablative absolute)

retained for brevity only one part of speech (abstract noun, name of pure

notion, all other autosemantics are its inflections) + particles (also of noun nature, signify relations and mental acts, expressed on radical words, synsemantics plus pronomina, not strict logical analysis for brevity)

Philosophical grammar Wilkins:

grammar (normal) is a later invention than language, it is an art by which language should be regulated, made ex post and adjusted to it

organical or instrumental part philosophical – mixture of different criteria,

inconsistent, influenced by the Modistae, Campanella, Caramuel...

no fundamental reduction (rather increase) of the number of parts of speech – but also two groups, integrals and particles

integrals are nouns, but of different types (names of things, persons... – congruous to reality)

particles are treated as „less principal“ than integrals (words in the tables), but are assigned independent words or signs

particles can also signal the use of a word in other than basic sense → unambiguous figurative language

almost no syntax grammar seen more as a source of unnecessary burden to

memory than as a source of ambiguity goal: to remove unnecessary rules and irregularities →

basically a „rational systematization and simplification“

Written language: origin of script Comenius:

script is a visible speech written by means of visible signs

invented later than speech Dalgarno:

visible characters existed from the beginning (as natural to man as audible characters – e.g. gestures)

Wilkins: script invented by Adam, but not at the very beginning

existing alphabetical script is a secondary sign system (signs of signs), also a primary written sign system can be formed (real character)

Written language as a remedy against ambiguity Comenius:

existence of written signs denoting words can counteract the mutability (hold and preserve it like fetter and prison), thus prevent the increase ambiguity

Wilkins: mutability cannot be hindered by writing itself, but only if the language ceases to be vulgar and is preserved only in books

Causes of ambiguity in written language random arrangement of letters in alphabet not one-to-one relationship of graphemes and sounds (redundancy, deficiency, representing one sound with several graphemes and v. v.)

result: homographs and homophones no correspondence of the shapes of letters to their pronunciation

possible solutions: rationalization of script real character

Problem of reduction to linearity reality – multidimensional predicamental system – two-dimensional speech and writing – linear

solutions: in speech / alphabetic script the level of

hierarchy indicated by the position of a letter in a sequence

real character may be partly two-dimensional: main signs surrounded by dots and strokes meaning affixes, inflection etc.

Differences between individual authors Major differences: Comenius x Dalgarno, Wilkins language as means of communication (conveying

emotions, binding society) x system of “marks“ (also for emotions, relations..., purely notional)

(more) communication-centered x knowledge-centered image of perfect language in harmony with the

universe x practicable scheme, necessarily imperfect

Minor differences: Dalgarno x Wilkins more emphasis on the functioning of language (role

of language economy) x more emphasis on philosophical consistency

number of words in the tables (only genera, species made by composition of radicals of genera x all simple notions including species)

role of grammar (emphasis on structural agreement of grammar and thought x simplification, racionalization)

Remedies against ambiguity – lexicon (Dalgarno, Wilkins) one-to-one relations between words and things/notions

nomenclature – its elements (what is put in order) are not words, but things/notions – one (existing) word can be listed in different places according to its several meanings, different parts of speech with related lexical meaning (goodness, right, well, better, rectify...) may be put together – separating several meanings of one word

goal – to parallel semantic relations with formal relations and thus connect the meaning to the form → increased internal cohesion of lexicon on semantic grounds – “anchoring“ the world in the lexicon

philosophical words are definitions (not identified by everybody)

Remedies against ambiguity - grammar also partly based on lexical analysis + logical analysis of thought (no derivative words for simple notions, no „gaps“ – undue restrictions in morphology or word formation)

figurative language made unambiguous (signalizing of figurative use)

system of units and relations as organized as possible (more by Dalgarno than by Wilkins)

systematization of means → increased internal cohesion

designed mostly with respect to declarative sentences