Whale Child: Mom, why do people call France France?
Me: That’s its name. What else would they call it?
WC: Well, they could call it “Leaves.”
Whale Child: Mom, why do people call France France?
Me: That’s its name. What else would they call it?
WC: Well, they could call it “Leaves.”
It would appear that young Whale Child is a semiotician in the making.
David M
I know there’s a clear road between ‘France’ and ‘Leaves’ in his mind, but I couldn’t find the right questions to ask to make it clear to mine. Just call me Dense Parent…
“…why do people call France France?”
Ultimately there is a connection between these two opposing factors: the arbitrary convention which allows free choice, and the passage of time, which fixes that choice. It is because the linguistic sign is arbitrary that it knows no other law than that of tradition, and because it is founded upon tradition that it can be arbitrary.
(Saussure)
http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/elljwp/CIGL.htm
I’ll pass it on!