A Living Language: An Alternative Approach to Interpreting Social and Geopolitical Processes

Abstract

The aim of the present article is to lay the foundations for a methodology which could help account for the striking yet formally inexplicable phonetic and semantic similarities across languages. Grounding the present research in the mechanics of sound production, it is postulated that early language, as an immediate outcome of vocal vibrations produced by the humans, was primarily emotion-driven and consequently universal. It expressed generalized ideas, or archetypes, characterized by a certain conceptual load, which are still retained across various languages. A claim is made that the emotion-driven part of language vocabulary is hierarchical: it is composed of “major” archetypes, i.e. archetypes identifiable across a number of languages, and “minor” archetypes, i.e. groups of language-specific archetypal words sharing the same conceptual load. We then establish a set of criteria along which archetypal words may be identified. The proposed hypothesis may have a broad application in all social sciences, in particular, consulting, recruiting, making prospective solutions, and ultimately, the national identity and geopolitical self-determination of a given culture.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.sal.0.24.6232