Encyclopedic Dictionary of Semiotics Tome 1 A -M Approaches to Semiotics 73 Editorial Committee Thomas A. Sebeok Roland Posner Alain Rey Mouton de Gruyter Berlin • New York • Amsterdam Encyclopedic Dictionary of Semiotics General Editor Thomas A. Sebeok, U.S.A. Editorial Board Paul Bouissac, Canada Umberto Eco, Italy Jerzy Pelc, Poland Roland Posner, W. Germany Alain Rey, France Ann Shukman, United Kingdom Tome 1 A -M Mouton de Gruyter Berlin • New York • Amsterdam Mouton de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague) is a Division of Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Encyclopedic dictionary of semiotics. (Approaches to semiotics ; 73) Contents: 1.1. A-M - t. 2. N-Z - t. 3. Bibliography. 1. Semiotics - Dictionaries. I. Sebeok, Thomas Albert, 1920 . II. Series. P99.E65 1986 001.51'03 86-18714 ISBN 0-89925-137-4 (alk. paper) CIP-Kurztitelaufnahme der Deutschen Bibliothek Encyclopedic dictionary of semiotics / gen. ed. Thomas A. Sebeok. Ed. board Paul Bouissac Berlin ; New York ; Amsterdam : Mouton de Gruyter (Approaches to semiotics ; 73) ISBN 3-11-010559-4 NE: Sebeok, Thomas A. [Hrsg.]; GT T. l.A-M. - 1986. Printed on acid free paper. © Copyright 1986 by Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin. All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form — by photoprint, microfilm, or any other means — nor transmitted nor translated into a machine language without written permission from Mouton de Gruyter, a Division of Walter de Gruy- ter & Co., Berlin. Typesetting: Satz-Rechen-Zentrum, Berlin. — Printing: Ratzlow-Druck, Berlin. — Binding: Luderitz & Bauer GmbH, Berlin. — Printed in Germany. Preface The embryonic idea for some kind of reference guide to semiotics came to me in 1973, while I was a Fellow of the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences. As Klaus Oehler later insightfully espied, I was animated to develop a project of this sort as I browsed, then ruminated, over Peirce's ethics of terminology and the relevance thereof for "all areas of lexicographic practice," particularly "the preparation of philosophical and scientific dictionaries" (Oehler 1981 A :348)1. Far from envisaging this labor as a monumental "cooperative summing up" (Gerber 1967 a :199), the last words carved into granite, I thought of it as a modest further step "in the work of clearing and opening up... semiotic," in the memorable locution of the self-declared pioneer, or backwoodsman, of the field, Charles S. Peirce (cf. 5.488). Initially, I had an amorphous conception of a reasonably comprehensive, one-volume venture—that, on the one hand, would attempt to answer relatively specific, narrow questions, but that would also, on the other hand, encourage its users to distend their horizons. In short, the handbook I imagined would aim to satisfy both demands of the mind: for direct problem-solving, as well as for the harvest of its peripheral vision. From the beginning, I firmly rejected the notion of constructing a work representing any particular "school of semiotic thought," thereby promoting the normative criteria of a single position "into a principle unifying all other positions," for, as pointed out in Oehler's preview {loc. cit. 352-353), such an imposition to elevate any individual point of view as preeminent "would result only in a fictitious unity which for the purposes of the lexicon would be not merely useless but damaging." This renunciation had as its corollary the requirement to seek for the widest possible support throughout the interna- tional community of semiotic practitioners and representatives of workshops located in various parts of the world. When I started, I knew only of a few lexicons devoted to semi- otics : Maldonado's (1961a), for instance, contains fewer than one hundred terms in the compass of 21 pages. The dictionary of Bense and Walther (1973) had just ap- peared, consigned, however, all but exclusively, to Peirce's semiotic. Later, other lexi- cons were to appear, the most ambitious among them being Greimas and Courtés (1979 A, 1982 a), a polemical piece of work which has been judged "far from being a survey of the terminology in use in semiotics..." (Serge 1984 A :269-270). An unprecedented opportunity for me to air my first private scenario came in June, 1974, in the course of the First Congress of the International Association for Semiotic Studies, held in Milan. I had proposed to Umberto Eco, the organizer of that Congress, that he set aside a period for a presentation of "my plan" and for a thorough discussion of it. This request fit well into his quasi-archeological scheme for the Congress, which had as one of its overall tasks to consider the history of semiotics, and, as another, to explore "the possibility of providing the discipline with a unified methodology and uni- fied objective" (Eco, in Chatman et al. 1979 a :V). About one hundred colleagues showed up at my special, informal session—not all, of course, at the same time—at ' References followed by this symbol (A) are listed in the Supplement to the Bibliography, pp. 449 ff. VI Preface which I set forth my thoughts for an Encyclopedic Dictionary of Semiotics, to comprise three interlaced categories of interalphabetized articles: (A) Entries tracing the historical background and range of the present usage of terms—seme, for instance—with recommendations, where appropriate, for stan- dardizing current convention; (B) Evaluative biographical sketches of leading figures in semiotic studies, such as Charles Morris; and assessments of aspects of the work of others, such as Aristotle, who have made pivotal contributions to semiotic studies, yet are not commonly thought of in this context; (C) Expositions of the impact of semiotics on various traditional arts and sciences, say, Architecture, Mathematics, Music, and the like; and of the penetration of se- miotic methods of inquiry into the study of established academic fields of study, such as the Philosophy of Language, Logic, and the like. After several hours of debate, the basic blueprint for the project was unofficially en- dorsed, and thus carried to the concluding Business Meeting of the Congress, where it was formally adopted by a unanimous vote of the assembled members of the IASS, and subsequently officially codified by its President, Cesare Segre. I was appointed Editor- in-Chief, with three immediate assignments to carry forward: (1) To form an International Editorial Board; (2) To procure the required financing; and (3) To commit the eventual book to a suitable publisher. The Editorial Board—whose membership is listed on the title page—was created mainly to help with the internal organization of the EDS and to assist in securing the best contributors available. These responsibilities were eventually carried out in part through very extensive correspondence and via numerous long distance phone calls, and in part in the course of three meetings: the first in West Germany, held September 17- 22, 1979 (hosted, by courtesy of Roland Posner, by the Technische Universität Berlin); the second in Italy, held June 12-25, 1981 (hosted, by courtesy of Pino Paioni, by the University of Urbino); and the third in Canada, held June 10-15, 1982 (hosted, by cour- tesy of Paul Bouissac, by Victoria University, at the University of Toronto). During our last get-together, members of the Editorial Board were able to examine, or, at least, to scan many—although, unfortunately, by no means all—lemmata in manuscript form, and to propose structural and individual modifications where required and feasible. Too, gaps were spotted and subsequently filled when possible. Users may well ask: why did thirteen years elapse between the conception and the realization of this work? The reasons are several, but by far the most arduous chore proved to be obtaining the funds necessary for even the most frugal operating expenses. I had prepared, at the outset of 1975, what I thought was a remarkably austere budget, comprising no compensation at all for any of the editors (myself, of course, included), providing for the salary of merely a single clerical helper and for minimal supplies, as well as for modest honoraria for invited contributors (this last sum estimated from comparable figures paid in the 1970's by the Encyclopaedia Britannica). The palpable— perhaps the only—public agency to apply to then was the United States National En- Preface VII dowment for the Humanities. Notwithstanding that semiotics never fell within the En- dowment's legal purview, its officers were—as they are now—kindly disposed toward this roughhewn parvenu to the American academic landscape, and tried to help out with- in their own fiscal limitations. After considering my submission for almost a year, I was advised that my proposal was approved "in principle," but proved fundable only to the tune of not quite 50% of the monies needed, this on condition that I raise the remainder from private sources. It was now the middle of 1976, so, if the plans were ever to be real- ized, I was obliged to commence anew to reconnoitre for glimmers of interest in semio- tics in the most unlikely novel venues for this (relatively) large scale support. The ensuing rummage had the makings of a picaresque novella. The exploration was, in any case, onerously time consuming, lasting, as it turned out, for over two addi- tional years. In the end, the funds to match—indeed, to somewhat exceed—the NEH Challenge Grant were pieced together from generous gifts on the part of The Rocke- feller Foundation and The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, supplemented by donations from the Indiana University Foundation, the Indiana Uni- versity Division of Research and Graduate Development, the Indiana University Press, and through the good offices of the Technische Universität Berlin. After protracted and convoluted negotiations with a variety of major publishing houses, located both in the United States and the United Kingdom, a contract was at last signed with the foremost Continental firm that has the longest and most distin- guished commitment to semiotic studies—Mouton de Gruyter—and that also has amply demonstrated its experience with the production of substantial reference works, com- parable, more or less, with this one. From the original Project Description, I now quote, for the record, the description of the Editorial Board's duties: (a) "Select the entries to be included, i.e., the technical terms, names of major contribu- tors to semiotics, fields with which semiotics interacts and the aspects of that interac- tion." (b) "Assign priorities to the topics, determining the relative number of words or amount of space to be devoted to each." (c) "Arrive at a consensus concerning the best possible contributor for each entry, and a list of possible alternates. Collaboration by two or more authors may be considered for more complex entries." (d) "Outline the technical specifications, that is, produce a style sheet, with the advice of the publisher's representative." As work began, the members of the Editorial Board were obliged to make certain decisions of principle: for instance, that entries in and environing linguistics would be minimized, since there already existed quite a few good independent, and comparable, works encompassing that well-established field—namely, the branch of semiotics which is devoted to verbal signs. It was also resolved to exclude biographical sketches of living persons. Too, in specific cases it proved impossible to obtain satisfactory entries dealing with certain topics, especially on semiotic theory and practice outside the Western tradi- tion, and on some other subjects we deemed important but for which we failed to secure suitable contributors. The usual impediments interfered with the smooth flow of corre- VIII Preface spondence in and out of countries where censorship prevails, occasioning further delays and other familiar difficulties.2 Thomas A. Sebeok Bloomington, May 1986 2 At his express request, dated January 22, 1986, I must, in conclusion, cite the following statement: "Jerzy Pelc accepts responsibility for the scientific content (but not for the editorial side involving cross-referencing, asterisks, typographic differentiations, etc.) of entries or frag- ments of entries signed B.S. (Babara Stanosz, Warsaw University), F.St. Franciszek Studnicki, Jagiellonian University, Cracow), J.J. (Jacek Jadacki, Warsaw University), J.P. (Jerzy Pelc, Warsaw University), L.K. (Leon Koj, Maria Curie-Sklodowska University, Lublin), M.Cz. (Mi- rostava Czarnawska, Warsaw University, Bialystok), M.H. (Michat Hempolinski, W.S.P. Szczecin), P.Br. (Piotr Brykczynski, Warsaw University), R.P. (Rostislav Pazukhin, Lodz Uni- versity), T.E.H. (Teresa Hotowka, Warsaw University), U.N. (Urszula Niklas, Peirce Edition Project, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis), and W.M. (Witold Marciszews- ki, Warsaw University, Bialystok)." Contributors A.B. Andrea Bendandi D.L. David Lidov A.Bo. Andrea Bonomi D.M. Dean MacCannell A.F.R. Anthony F. Russell D.M.M. D. M. Mackay A.G. Alain Goldschlager D.M.-S. Dietland Muller-Schwarze A.Gü. Arnold Günther D.P. Daniel Patte A.H. André Helbo D.Pr. Donald Preziosi A.H.-L. Aage Hansen-Love D.P.V. Donald Phillip Verene A.J. Alice Jardine D.R.-L. Daniel Rancour-Laferriere A. Je. Ann Jefferson D.S. David Savan A.Jo. André Joly A.K. Adam Kendon E.A. Edna Aphek A.L. Adrienne Lehrer E.B. Eugen Baer A.L.-S. Annemarie Lange-Seidl E.B.F. Edmund B. Ford A.M. Abraham Moles E.F.M. Eugene F. Miller A.M.P. A. M. Piatigorsky E.G. Erhardt Güttgemanns A. P. Augusto Ponzio E.N. Eduardo Neiva A.Ph.-L. A.-Ph. Lagopoulos E.P. Eva Picardi A.R. Alain Rey E.S. Eric Schwimmer A.R.L. André Roch Lecours E.Sp. Emilio Speciale A.S. A. Scheffcyzyk E.St. Edward Stankiewicz A.Sh. Ann Shukman E.V. Eugene Vance A.V. Alain Viau E.v.S. Eike von Savigny A.Wi. Alan Williams E.W.B. A.W.R. Allen Walker Read H.-L. Ernest W. B. Hess-Lüttich A.Z. Alessandro Zinna F.A. Friedmar Apel B.B. Baron Brainerd F.D.B. Frances D. Burton B.D. Bernard Dupriez F.E. Francis Edeline B.O. Boris Oguibenine F.G. Franz Günthner B.S. Barbara Stanosz F.M. Francesco Marsciani F.R.-L. Ferruccio Rossi-Landi C.B. Claude Bremond F.S. Frits Staal C.E. Christopher English F.St. F. Studnicki C.H. Christoph Hubig C.J.F. Charles J. Fillmore G.B. Gunter Bentele C.N. Christopher Norris G.Be. Gregg Beasley (translator) C.P. Claude Panaccio G.G. Gunter Gebauer c.s. Cesare Segre G.M. Giovanni Manetti C.T. Christian Thiel G.Me. Georg Meggle C.Ti. Catherine Tihanyi (translator) G.Mo. Georges Mounin G.P. Giorgio Prodi D.B. Dwight Bolinger G.T. Gideon Toury D.d.K. Derrick de Kerckhove G.W.H. Gordon W. Hewes D.G. Dietfried Gerhardus D.G.C. Daniela G. Camhy H.E. Herbert Eagle D.J. David Joravsky H.G.S. Henry G. Schogt D.K. David Kahn H.K. Hermann Kalkofen X Contributors H.P. Herman Parret L.F. Lawrence Fine H.S.S. H. S. Scheffler L.Fo. Lia Formigari H.v.d.B. Holger van den Boom L.G.K. L. G. Kelly L.J.P. Luis J. Prieto L.K. Leon Koj I.B. Ira Buchler L.R.W. Linda R. Waugh I.E.-Z. Itamar Even-Zohar I.K. Ivan Karp M.A. Maryann Ayim I.O. Ivo Osolsobë M.A.B. Massimo A. Bonfantini I.R. Irmengard Rauch M.B. Manfred Bierwisch M.C. Marc Chénetier (translator) M.C°. Maria Corti J.B.C. John B. Carroll M. Cz. Miroslawa Czarnawska J.B.S. J. B. Scoggin M.D. Marcelo Dascal J.C. Jonathan Culler M.d.M. Marco de Marinis J.D.J. Jergen Dines Johansen M.D.Me. Marx De Mey J.D.M. James D. McCawley M.G. Martin Gardner J.E. Johannes Engelkamp M.Go. Myrna Gopnik J.H.M. John H. McDowell M.Got. Mark Gottdiener JJ. J- Jadacki M.Gr. Murray Grossman J.L.H. Judith Lynne Hanna M.H. Michal Hempolinski J.-L.N. Jean-Luc Nespoulous M.He. Michael Herzfeld J.M. John McClelland M.K. Martin Krampen J.M.H. J. Michael Holquist M.L. Monique Leon J.-M.K. J. M. Klinkenberg M.Lu. Manfred Lurker J.N.D. John N. Deely M.M. Marina Mizzau J.P. Jerzy Pelz M.Mo. Massimo Modica J.Pe. Jean Petitot M.P. Mark Pastin J.P.H. Jack P. Hailman M.R. Monica Rector J.Pi. John Pier M.R.K. Mary Ritchie Key J.Pin. Jan Pinborg M.U. Maria Ulkau J.P.K. Jane P. Kaplan M.W. Mauro Wolf J.R. Joseph Ransdell J.R.-D. Josette Rey-Debove N.B.C. Nino B. Cocchiarella J.S. John Sturrock N.M. Norman Martin J.S.P. Jânos S. Petöfi N.N. Neal Norrick (translator) J.U.-S. Jean Umiker-Sebeok N.S.B. Naomi S. Baron J.V. Josef Vachek J.V.W. James V. Wertsch o.e. Omar Calabrese J.W. Jacques Waardenburg O.G.R. Olga Grigor'evan Revzina J.Wo. John Woods O.H. Otto Haxthausen (translatoi J.Y.K. Joan Yess Kahn P.A. Peter Abelard K.C. Kvetoslav Chvatik P.B. Paul Bouissac K.D. Kevin Dunbar P.Br. P. Brykczynski K.E. Keir Elam P.B.S. Philip B. Stafford K.H. Karen Hansen P.D. Phillip De Lacy K.L. Kuno Lorenz P.F.-D. Pierre Fresnault-Deruelle K.M. Karl Marold: P.G. Pierre Guiraud K.O. Klaus Oehler P.J.S. Philip J. Stone K.W.H. Klaus W. Hempfer P.M. Patrizia Magli