Audition-Phonation Circuit
- Title
-
Audition-Phonation Circuit
- Description
-
Suppose that the opening of the circuit is in A's brain, where mental facts (concepts) are associated with the representations of the linguistic sounds (sound-images) that are used for their expression. A given concept unlocks a corresponding sound-image in the brain; this purely psychological phenomenon is followed in turn by a physiological process: the brain transmits an impulse corresponding o the image to the organs used in producing sounds. Then the sound waves travel from the mouth of A to the ear of B: a purely physical process. Next, the circuit continues in B, but the order is reversed: from ear to the brain, the physiological transmission of the sound-image; in the brain, the psychological association os the image with the corresponding concept. If B then speaks, the new act will follow--from his brain to A's--exactly the same course as the first act and pass through the same successive phases, which I shall diagram in the [figure].…
I have included only the elements thought to be essential, but the drawing brings out at a glance the distinction between the physical (sound waves), physiological (phonation and audition), and psychological parts (word-images and concepts). Indeed, we should not fail to notice that the word-image stands apart from the sound itself and that it is just as psychological as the concept which is associated with it. - Designer
- Saussure, Ferdinand de
- Date
- 1916
- Bibliographic Citation
- Saussure, Ferdinand de. 1959. Course in General Linguistics. Edited by Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye, in collaboration with Albert Reidlinger. Translated from the French by Wade Baskin. Philosophical Library. Pages 11-12.
- Saussure, Ferdinand de. 1916. Cours de linguistique générale. Paris: Payot.
- is depiction of attribute
- Square
- use feature
- Equal
- Coverage
- communication
Part of Audition-Phonation Circuit