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On the Semantic Basis ofHeraldic Propaganda
or
What do Arms Mean, and How?St. Andrews, August 2006
Antti Leino 〈[email protected]〉
University of Helsinki
Heraldry Society of Finland
Introduction
Flag of the Carelia Air Command since 1958
Swastika adopted byI Finnish air force in 1918
I NSDAP in 1920
How do these associations work?
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 2(17)
Introduction
Flag of the Carelia Air Command since 1958
Swastika adopted byI Finnish air force in 1918
I NSDAP in 1920
How do these associations work?
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 2(17)
Introduction
Flag of the Carelia Air Command since 1958
Swastika adopted byI Finnish air force in 1918
I NSDAP in 1920
How do these associations work?
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 2(17)
Introduction
Flag of the Carelia Air Command since 1958
Swastika adopted byI Finnish air force in 1918
I NSDAP in 1920
How do these associations work?Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 2(17)
Introduction
Compare to names
Where’s WashingtonI State in North-Western USA?I Capital of the USA?
I Town in North-Eastern England, near Durham– Sir William de Wessyngton c. 1180
...– George Washington 1789
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 3(17)
Introduction
Compare to names
Where’s WashingtonI State in North-Western USA?I Capital of the USA?
I Town in North-Eastern England, near Durham– Sir William de Wessyngton c. 1180
...– George Washington 1789
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 3(17)
Introduction
Similarities between names and armsCommon perception
I Names-and-arms clauses in willsI Cases of surname usurpation in Court of
ChivalryI etc. all over Europe
Linguistic viewpointI Primarily used for identificationI Further semantic content not necessaryI Often some vestige remains
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 4(17)
Cognitive LinguisticsIntroduction
Linguistic movement since around 1980
Basic claimsI Language is cognitionI Grammar comes from conceptualisationI Knowledge of language comes from language
use
Viable theoretical framework for describingplace names
How about arms?
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 5(17)
Cognitive LinguisticsBasic concepts: construction
Basic unit for language: constructionCoupling of form and meaningUsually composed of smaller elementsAll elements not necessarily fully specifiedIdiomaticity: overall meaning not necessarilysum of elements
coat of armsCat NSem 'armorial bearings'
coatCat NSem 'type of
garment'
ofCat PrepSem 'associated
with'
armsCat NNum PlSem 'weapons'
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 6(17)
Cognitive HeraldryArms as constructions
Arms of Henry IV
Schematic construction:quartered armsSpecific instantiation:
I France and England asthe quarters
I Claim to the Frenchthrone
B
BA
A
A and B
England and France
EnglandFrance
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 7(17)
Cognitive LinguisticsBasic concepts: entrenchment
A new construction is hard to understand
Once it has been heard lots of times, it is easy
In other words, it has been entrenched as a partof the language
The same applies to meaningsThe more often something is used with aparticular meaning, the more entrenched thismeaning becomes
I Washington: state in the USA vs. town nearDurham
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 8(17)
Cognitive HeraldryEntrenchment of heraldic charges
Carelia Air Command
CareliaFinnish Air Force
unknown Nazi flag
Nazi ? ?
The swastika is entrenched as a Nazi symbolI Kipling abandoned his swastika badge in 1930’s
This is easily interpreted as a Nazi flag
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 9(17)
Cognitive LinguisticsConceptual integration
New expressions are created from existingconcepts
I Schematic constructions filled in with specificelements
I New innovations from analogy and metaphorI These are all applications of the same mental
process
Conceptual integration or blendingI Concepts from several input domains or spaces
projected to a new oneI For instance, canting arms integrates the
concept of speaking with the concept of arms— the arms »speak» the name of their bearer
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 10(17)
Cognitive HeraldryConceptual integration in propaganda
Case: the arms of Finland
Designed in the late 1570’s
Johan III, King of Sweden, assumed the titleGrand Duke of Finland
The title matches that of Ivan IV, Tsar of Russiaand Grand Duke of Muscovy
The arms of the new Grand Duchy go furtherBlend of three conceptual spaces
I HeraldryI GeographyI Battle
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 11(17)
Cognitive HeraldryConceptual integration in propaganda
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 12(17)
Cognitive HeraldryConceptual integration in propaganda
Case: the Flodden augmentation
Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, commandedthe English army at Flodden
James IV, King of Scotland, died in the battleThe augmented Howard arms can be seen as ablend of three conceptual spaces
I HeraldryI Individual personsI Death
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 13(17)
Cognitive HeraldryConceptual integration in propaganda
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 14(17)
Conclusions
Heraldry is a system for identificationI It has some grammar-like structureI This structure does not cover everything
Cognitive linguistics allows such lack ofcompleteness
I Concentrate on the structures that existI Acknowledge the existence of the rest
DescribeI Regularities as constructionsI Semantic content in terms of conceptual
integration
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 15(17)
What Next?
The current work applied linguistic methods toheraldry
Blazon is language and heraldry
What is the relationship between the»grammars» of
I armorial compositionI blazon?
Is this relationship apparent in blazon as alinguistic genre?
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 16(17)
Thank you
[email protected]://www.cs.helsinki.fi/u/leino/index.en.html
Antti Leino: Semantics in Heraldry St. Andrews, August 2006 17(17)