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Gods of the Word: Archetypes in the Consonants
| Margaret Magnus (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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I have been working on a dictionary which outlines this data for English in much more detail rather formally and scientifically. But I also have many thoughts which I seem to express more openly and cheerfully when I voice them in a separate book. My purpose here is therefore not to prove anything, but to summarize my most important findings in plain English and to philosophize freely and naively on their significance.
- ISBN-100943549523
- ISBN-13978-0943549521
- PublisherTruman State Univ Pr
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 2010
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions6 x 0.75 x 9 inches
- Print length146 pages
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- Publisher : Truman State Univ Pr (January 1, 2010)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 146 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0943549523
- ISBN-13 : 978-0943549521
- Item Weight : 15.5 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.75 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #8,392,069 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,368 in Phonetics & Phonics Reference
- #61,009 in Foreign Language Reference
- #720,004 in Textbooks
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For they will have discovered the underlying phonosemantic structure of inherent meaning in the arbitrary connections between the signifiers and signifieds of their language.
In psychoanalysis and intellectual history, the selected fact is ignored until the anxiety it provokes can be tolerated, and insight (new paradigm) achieved. 2400 years ago, Socrates said in Cratylus that sounds and words are imitations of the essence of their referents. It seems no one got around to testing this theory until Margaret Magnus.
In this book you will learn that monomorphemic (single-syllable) words tend to reduce to a relatively small number of meaning groups (concepts), defined by their phonemes (sounds), and tend to cluster in related groups of meanings. Each phoneme has its own underlying related concepts (or pre-conceptions) which cluster and are different in meaning and direction from other phonemes. The inherent meanings of phonemes interact with the more arbitrary connections between words and what they mean (reference). Inherent phoneme meaning varies between languages but often points to the same underlying concepts.
These are the subterranean "Gods of the Word" that speak through us.
This book is both scientific and spiritual. It offers a testable hypothesis about material reality (provable at home in three hours or less) that calls into question basic assumptions about language, meaning and communication that have been scientific (academic) dogma since de Saussure and responsible for both the shaping and subject of much of twentieth century "discourse." It is spiritual because it points to a realm beyond the arbitrary connections of material reality, to an underlying world of inherent meaning, where sounds and letters and words have essential, formative and poetic capabilies.
The ultimate value of Gods of the Word lies in its capacity to link these two worlds and viewpoints by showing their intimate connections in language. It should open doors in a number of directions.
Margaret has been where few others have had the privilege of being and these deeper connections that have been hidden in plain sight for many years are now clearly defined for others to grsp.
Reading this book has been so positively affirming that I'm not the only one who believes in these connections within our languages
Only negative: occasionally Margaret Magnus waxes mystical but the technical information and practical applications are still spot on.
This small, lovely book is for people who love words, books, a turn of phrase; folks whose hearts can resonate with the throb of a well-crafted poem. Its design- look, feel, and sound- is elegance itself. If you are the sort of person who is happiest when submerged in words, this book is a salve to the heart, an inspiration to the mind, and a confirmation to the spirit, which always Knew there was something more to words than the dry bones they taught you about in school.