Eugenio Coseriu: Beyond Structuralism

Eugenio Coseriu counts among the most important linguistic scholars of the second half of the 20th century. He is known mainly as a structuralist and a Romance linguist, but his work is in fact far more expansive in scope, including a comprehensive linguistic theory as well as writings on a wide range of issues, from semantics, syntax, typology, variational linguistics, language change, pragmatics and text linguistics to Vulgar Latin, the history of the philosophy of language and the history of Romance linguistics. Coseriu’s thought is founded on solid philosophical principles, and his life brought him into contact with a number of different academic traditions and cultures. However, for a variety of reasons (among which, the languages in which he tended to publish: Spanish, Italian, French and German), knowledge of his thought is rather marginal in the Anglo-American world. This book aims to go some way to addressing this situation by offering an overview in English of Coseriu’s main contributions to linguistics, and indeed to other disciplines. It is of general interest for the study of linguistics, the history of linguistics, and the philosophy of language, as well as for a broader reading public. . first comprehensive English introduction to Coseriu’s work and thought . compact overview . allows for an initial study as well as for deeper insight

Eugenio Coserius Sprachzeichentheorie und der Prager Strukturalismus

Eugenio Coseriu (1921–2002) gilt vielen Linguisten als “eminent representative of international structuralism” (De Mauro 2009: 328). Gemäß seinem Credo, die “Leistungen und Grenzen” bestehender Forschungstraditionen aufzudecken, hat Coseriu aber von Anfang an versucht, über den Strukturalismus hinauszugehen (vgl. Coseriu, “Au-delà du structuralisme” 1982), und zwar im Sinne Hegels: Es geht Coseriu darum, Einsichten und Erkenntnisse von früher kritisch zu rezipieren, auf ihnen weiter aufzubauen und über sie hinauszugehen. Das kann man beispielhaft an Coserius Auseinandersetzung mit dem Prager Strukturalismus beobachten, u.a. im Hinblick auf die Konzepte “funktionelle Opposition”, “Gestalt” und “Neutralisierung”

The universality of categories and meaning: a Coserian perspective

Studies in linguistic typology have challenged the idea that languages can be analyzed in terms of a set of preestablished universal categories. Each language should instead be described “in its own terms,” a view consistent with the ‘old’ structuralist paradigm in linguistics. The renewed orientation toward differences between languages raises two questions: (i) How do we identify the meanings which are assumed to be crosslinguistically comparable? (ii) What is the relationship between language-particular categories and comparative concepts commonly used in linguistic typology? To answer these questions, this article focuses on a number of distinctions advocated by Eugenio Coseriu (1921–2002). Coseriu distinguishes three levels of meaning (designation, “signifiés,” and sense) and three types of universals (essential, empirical, and possible universals). Their relevance for linguistic typology is discussed with regard to the expression of possession and a particular diathesis in Japanese, viz. ukemi or “indirect passive.” As well as relating language-particular categories and comparative concepts, Coseriu’s approach offers a promising avenue to account for the ways language-specific meanings interact with extralinguistic knowledge and contents of discourse and texts, which are the object of translation

Notas sobre la obra científica de Coseriu (11)

La presente entrega se realiza dentro del proyecto La obra científica de Eugenio Coseriu: ordenación, estudio y edición (Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, BFF2002-01827)

Book Reviews

Obres ressenyades: Jesús Gerardo MARTÍNEZ DEL CASTILLO (ed.), Odisea 3: revistavde estudios ingleses. Almería: Universidad de Almería, 2003 ; Jesús Gerardo MARTÍNEZ DEL CASTILLO (ed.), Eugenio Coseriu in memoriam II . Granada: Método, 2005