As we all know, language is a "système où tout se tient," in which meaning
is encoded by sequences of contrastive units. In spoken language,
contrast is based on acoustic features; in written language, contrast is
based on spatial features. However, it is likely that until very recently
color has never been used in written languages to encode differences in
meaning, as opposed to discourse functions (e.g., Faulkner's intention to
indicate different speakers by ink color in The Sound and the Fury).
Times have changed, however, and a new dimension of phonemicity has been
introduced into English. A well-
It is, of course, devoted to Italian fashion. However, another store
opened recently two blocks away named:
which is, of course, a tile store owned by a Rastafarian named Ian. The
court upheld the right of Ian to name his store thus, on the grounds that
the stores' markets were entirely different and the contrast sufficient to
prevent confusion. Thus, in legal terms the contrast in sign color
between white and yellow fulfills all the requirements of phonemic
contrast, though one thus far neutralized in at least some other color
environments (not to mention in spoken English). I should add that while
the linguistic aspects of this decision have not yet caught the attention
of most linguists in the area, the religious significance of this decision
was obvious, given Bloomington's standing as the American center of
Tibetan Buddhism: Next month an international conference of Buddhist
scholars will discuss the insights this decision provides into the
earliest stages of intelligent life in the universe, when beings
communicated with light instead of sound.
ITALIANSTILE
ITALIANSTILE
A Corpus-Linguistic Approach to Demography--Morten H. Albert
A Preliminary Field Guide to Linguists, Part One--Athanasious Schadenpoodle
SpecGram Vol CL, No 1 Contents