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(10) BAAAAAB, which means 'blue'. This time he writes it in red juice. |
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Now he steps back and admires his work with a certain satisfaction. Surely the expressions in (9) and (10) are both metaphors for the apple. However, their metaphoric status is heightened by the presence of a physical element, namely, the particular emphasis inherent in the matter of expression itself. Still, this operation has transformed the substance of expression (the particular way of handling it) from a purely optional variant into a pertinent feature: it is now form of expression, though Adam is dealing with form of expression in a language of colors, as opposed to words. Also, something rather curious has happened: up to this point red objects were imprecise referents which the sign-vehicle ABBBBBA ('red') could be applied to. But now a red something, the red of the berry's juice, has itself become the sign-vehicle of an element which has as one of its meanings the very same word ABBBBBA which previously stood for it. In fact, the limitless possibilities of semiosis allow any meaning to become the sign-vehicle of another meaning, even of its own erstwhile sign-vehicle. There can even come about a situation where an object (that is, referent) becomes itself a sign. In any case, that redness means, not only «red», nor even merely «ABBBBBA», but also «edible» and «beautiful», and so on. Meanwhile the verbal equivalent of what is actually scribbled on the rock is «blue» and, consequently, «bad», «inedible». What a marvelous discovery! It certainly renders the whole force of ambiguity in the concept of apple. For hours on end Adam and Eve sit back and contemplate those signs written out on the rock; they are in an ecstasy of admiration. "How very baroque," Eve would like to comment, but she cannot. She has no critical metalanguage at her disposal. But Adam is bursting to have another go. He writes up |
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Here are six B's. This sequence does not exist in the terms of his vocabulary, yet it is closest of all to the sequence ABBBBBA (red). Adam has written up the word /red/, but with added graphic emphasis. Perhaps this emphasis of the form of expression has a parallel at the level of the form of content? Surely it is a heavily emphasized red? A red which is redder than other reds? Blood, for example? It is odd that this very moment, when Adam is casting around for a function for his new word, is the first occasion when he has had to take note of the various shades of red in the world that surrounds him. The innovation which he has established at the level of form of expression actually induces him to isolate specific detail in the form of content. If he has come this far, then we may |
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