Contributions to the doctrine of signs By Thomas A. Sebeok (review)

REVIEWS Contributions to the doctrine of signs. By Thomas A. Sebeok. (Indiana University publications, Studies in semiotics, 5.) Bloomington: Indiana University; Lisse: Peter de Ridder Press, 1976. Pp. xiv, 272. Reviewed by Giulio Lepschy, University ofReading, England The influence and importance of Sebeok's work in contemporary linguistics goes well beyond what he has actually written; it also depends on his activity as an initiator and editor of periodicals, series, and individual volumes, as well as a promoter of memorable conferences. It is perhaps possible for a linguist never to have read S's own contributions, but it is quite inconceivable that anybody even marginally connected with linguistics should not have come across some volume edited by him. Now it will be much easier to appreciate his work as an independent scholar, since his own articles are being collected and made more easily available than they were in their original forms. There are already three collections: the first two cover fields in which S dominates unrivaled, Cheremis (1974) and zoösemiotics (1972); the third, here reviewed, is devoted to a subject in which his name also looms large, and the development of which owes a great deal to his endeavors. The book contains eleven essays, as well as a foreword (ix-xiii), a list of references which amounts to a working bibliography of semiotics (201-52), and an index of names (253-71). Since all the contributions but one were already available to interested readers, I shall limit myself to listing the contents of the book and adding a few observations. The articles are: (1) 'Semiotics: a survey of the state of the art', from Current trends in linguistics 12.211-64 (1974); (2) '"Semiotics" and its congeners', from the A. A. Hill Festschrift, 1.283-95 (1976); (3) 'Is a comparative semiotics possible?', from the Lévi-Strauss Festschrift, 614-27 (1968); (4) 'Problems in the classification of signs', from the Haugen Festschrift, 511-21 (1972); (5) 'Zoösemiotics: at the intersection of nature and culture', from The Times literary supplement (October 5, 1973); (6) 'La dynamique des signes', from L'Unité de l'homme: invariants biologiques et universaux culturels, ed. by E. Morin & M. Piattelli-Palmarini, Paris, 61-77 (1974); (7) '"Dialect" from a zoösemiotic perspective ', not previously published; (8) 'Six species of signs: some propositions and strictures', from Semiótica 13.233-60 (1975); (9) 'Notes on lying and prevarication ', from Revue roumaine de linguistique 20.571-4 (1975); (10) 'The semiotic web : a chronicle of prejudices ', from Bulletin ofliterary semiotics 2. 1-63 (1975) ; and (H)' Drum and whistle systems', from Speech surrogates: drum and whistle systems, ed. by T. A. Sebeok & D. J. Umiker-Sebeok, The Hague, xiii-xxiv (1976). As S notes in his preface, there is inevitably a certain amount of repetition in the book; but generally this does not matter, as it is quite interesting to find a point of theory reiterated from a different angle or reformulated with different wording. This strikes the reader as a little strange only in individual cases, when an out-ofthe -way or unexpected piece of information is repeated, e.g. as regards the semiotic value of giraffes' excrement: 'normally, the falling of faeces should give a typical rustling sound', and it is a bad sign 'if the excrement is voided in shapeless, pattering portions' (42, 127-8). 661 662LANGUAGE, VOLUME 54, NUMBER 3 (1978) The general impression which the book leaves is one of consistency with S's image : there seems to be no conflict between the author of these essays and the powerful and dynamic cultural organizer. The articles are mostly devoted, not to wholly creative, original contributions, but to the recognition and definition of the subject, to reconsidering its history and connections, to systematizing the notions and terms it employs, and to bringing together results from different fields and identifying their relevance for semiotics. The major essays in the collection are in fact three general surveys: the first and tenth, on the state of the art, and the eighth, on the classification of signs. Faced by two principal trends in semiotics—the French (which states its allegiance to Saussure , is represented most vigorously by Barthes...