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Transformational theory and semantic analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2008

Richard A. Thompson
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas

Extract

Schools of thought concerning the study of language in anthropology and in linguistics proper have developed historically along lines that are sometimes convergent, but too often divergent because of a certain gap in communication between the two disciplines. It is the purpose of this paper to suggest the existence of an area of common interest which is at present unrecognized in the literature. I submit that recent work in what anthropologists refer to as ‘formal’ semantic analysis, when considered in the light of transformational linguistics, provides a potentially fruitful point of interdisciplinary interaction which should result in the formulation of a more adequate theory of meaning in the study of language than exists at the moment.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1968

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