Styles of Communication (Nov 2015)
An Analytical Model of Language Adaptation in Religious Texts. An Outline Proposal.
Abstract
n the article, I present a four-parameter model of meaning analysis in adaptive speech acts (ASAs). The model is used, as an analytical tool, to identify the adaptive power hidden in the language expressions in a given field of culture (extracted by definition). As an example, I have chosen religion as a field of culture and the books of the New Testament as sets of language expressions to find their adaptive possibilities. The model is based on Piaget’s (1965) adaptation by assimilation and accommodation, Maslow’s (1943) adaptation through physiological limitations, and Duranti’s (1999) intermediary adaptation. To implement these adaptive theories, I use Saussure’s (1959) structural definition of language, Halliday’s (1973) functional definition of language, Searle’s (1969) speech acts, and Szałaj’s (2014) adaptive hypothesis of language and culture.
