What Makes Sound Patterns Expressive?

The Poetic Mode of Speech Perception

Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Language Arts, Reading, Phonetics & Phonics, Linguistics
Cover of the book What Makes Sound Patterns Expressive? by Reuven Tsur, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Reuven Tsur ISBN: 9780822378365
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: January 31, 1992
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Reuven Tsur
ISBN: 9780822378365
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: January 31, 1992
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

Poets, academics, and those who simply speak a language are subject to mysterious intuitions about the perceptual qualities and emotional symbolism of the sounds of speech. Such intuitions are Reuven Tsur’s point of departure in this investigation into the expressive effect of sound patterns, addressing questions of great concern for literary theorists and critics as well as for linguists and psychologists.
Research in recent decades has established two distinct types of aural perception: a nonspeech mode, in which the acoustic signals are received in the manner of musical sounds or natural noises; and a speech mode, in which acoustic signals are excluded from awareness and only an abstract phonetic category is perceived. Here, Tsur proposes a third type of speech perception, a poetic mode in which some part of the acoustic signal becomes accessible, however faintly, to consciousness.
Using Roman Jakobson’s model of childhood acquisition of the phonological system, Tsur shows how the nonreferential babbling sounds made by infants form a basis for aesthetic valuation of language. He tests the intersubjective and intercultural validity of various spatial and tactile metaphors for certain sounds. Illustrating his insights with reference to particular literary texts, Tsur considers the relative merits of cognitive and psychoanalytic approaches to the emotional symbolism of speech sounds.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Poets, academics, and those who simply speak a language are subject to mysterious intuitions about the perceptual qualities and emotional symbolism of the sounds of speech. Such intuitions are Reuven Tsur’s point of departure in this investigation into the expressive effect of sound patterns, addressing questions of great concern for literary theorists and critics as well as for linguists and psychologists.
Research in recent decades has established two distinct types of aural perception: a nonspeech mode, in which the acoustic signals are received in the manner of musical sounds or natural noises; and a speech mode, in which acoustic signals are excluded from awareness and only an abstract phonetic category is perceived. Here, Tsur proposes a third type of speech perception, a poetic mode in which some part of the acoustic signal becomes accessible, however faintly, to consciousness.
Using Roman Jakobson’s model of childhood acquisition of the phonological system, Tsur shows how the nonreferential babbling sounds made by infants form a basis for aesthetic valuation of language. He tests the intersubjective and intercultural validity of various spatial and tactile metaphors for certain sounds. Illustrating his insights with reference to particular literary texts, Tsur considers the relative merits of cognitive and psychoanalytic approaches to the emotional symbolism of speech sounds.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book Producing Bollywood by Reuven Tsur
Cover of the book Like Cattle and Horses by Reuven Tsur
Cover of the book Southern Gardens, Southern Gardening by Reuven Tsur
Cover of the book Afro Asia by Reuven Tsur
Cover of the book Utopia and Cosmopolis by Reuven Tsur
Cover of the book No Future by Reuven Tsur
Cover of the book Theorizing Native Studies by Reuven Tsur
Cover of the book Imagining Interest in Political Thought by Reuven Tsur
Cover of the book Earth Politics by Reuven Tsur
Cover of the book New Organs Within Us by Reuven Tsur
Cover of the book The Right to Look by Reuven Tsur
Cover of the book Prophets of the Hood by Reuven Tsur
Cover of the book Made in China by Reuven Tsur
Cover of the book Close Reading by Reuven Tsur
Cover of the book Natural and Moral History of the Indies by Reuven Tsur
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy