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The application of C.K. Ogden’s semiotics in Basic English
- Author(s):
- James McElvenny (see profile)
- Date:
- 2015
- Group(s):
- History of Linguistics and Language Study
- Subject(s):
- Linguistics, Semiotics, Semantics, Language, Universal
- Item Type:
- Article
- Tag(s):
- Ogden, interlinguistics
- Permanent URL:
- http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M6X53C
- Abstract:
- Although a relatively minor project in terms of its impact on the broader international language movement, Basic English is interesting for the elaborate semiotic theory that lies behind it. The creator of Basic, Charles Kay Ogden (1889–1957), is today remembered chiefly as co-author of The Meaning of Meaning, a book widely regarded as a classic of early twentieth-century semiotics. In this paper, we engage in a critical examination of the design of Basic and demonstrate how it essentially represents an implementation of the key doctrines set out in that book, tempered by the practical exigencies of language construction. We focus on Ogden’s method of ‘panoptic conjugation’, which he used to select the Basic core vocabulary of 850 words, as well as his conception of the grammar of Basic as an outgrowth of its vocabulary. We observe additionally how Ogden’s approach does not result in a self-contained, independent international language, but rather a language that is subservient to Standard English idiom.
- Metadata:
- xml
- Published as:
- Journal article
- Status:
- Published
- Last Updated:
- 5 years ago
- License:
- All Rights Reserved
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