Jerry, list,
Peirce does not use "decisign" with an 'e' in any of the texts in
Collected Papers, Writings, or Contributions to _The Nation_.
He uses 'dicisign' and 'dicent sign', and does so with the same meaning.
The origin in the Latin verb _/dicere/_ ('to say', 'to tell') is pretty
evident to any Latinist. _/Dico, dicere, dixi, dictus/_ are the
principle parts of the verb. From it come French and Italian _/dire/_,
Spanish _/decir/_, Portuguese _/dizer/_, English 'diction', etc.
1. The word 'dicent' is pretty plainly from the Latin _/dicere/_'s
present participle _/dicens, dicentis/_.
2. 'Sign' is a word from Latin _/signum/_, and Peirce is not the kind
readily to combine a Latin root with a root from some other language. So
the 'dici' in 'dicisign' is almost certainly from _/dicere/_.
3. The first and second points converge to the same conclusion.
Best, Ben
On 10/12/2014 11:10 PM, Jerry LR Chandler wrote:
Frederik:
The origen of the root of the term "decisign" is of substantial
interest to me.
"Dicisign" refers to the latin verb "dico" - I say - chosen, I
think, to underline that Dicisigns are signs that say something about
something.
My limited search yielded nothing.
Could you expand on your beliefs about this interpretation?
Does anayone else use a different root term for this "ill-defined"
concept?
(It is of critical importance from a chemical perspective of the logic
of the triadic triad in relation to the S.O.P. of chemical methodology
for "proof of structure" and logical closure.)
Cheers
Jerry
On Oct 11, 2014, at 1:58 PM, Frederik Stjernfelt wrote:
Dear Jerry, lists -
I think you are right chemistry played a central role in Peirce's
dicisign conception. He saw both the predicate part and the subject
parts as atoms with valencies which fit each other when forming the
molecule of the dicisign. He even compared the two with halogens and
alkali metals in the periodic table of the elements (corresponding,
of course, to one-slot predicates only) - I quote this in Natural
Propositions.
As to the wording, you write "decisigns" - I have never seen that
spelling but it would not surprise me to find it in P's unpublished
pages. "Dicisigns" is one among several terminological proposals for
the naming of generalized propositions - others include Dicent Signs
and Phemes. "Dicisign" refers to the latin verb "dico" - I say -
chosen, I think, to underline that Dicisigns are signs that say
something about something.
Best
F
Den 01/10/2014 kl. 19.04 skrev Gary Richmond <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>>
-----------------------------
PEIRCE-L subscribers: Click on "Reply List" or "Reply All" to REPLY ON PEIRCE-L
to this message. PEIRCE-L posts should go to [email protected] . To
UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message not to PEIRCE-L but to [email protected] with the
line "UNSubscribe PEIRCE-L" in the BODY of the message. More at
http://www.cspeirce.com/peirce-l/peirce-l.htm .
