PREFACE

The papers contained in this volume represent in essence the proceedings of the conference on The Signifying Animal: The Grammar of Man’s Language and of His Experiences, held from 28 to 30 June 1978 on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. The final paper is an additional contribution which speaks to the closing topic of the conference. The lead paper, “What Is Signifying?” although not presented at the conference, incorporates much of the rationale for the meeting, its central themes, and the immediate and ultimate goals as they were outlined to the National Endowment for the Humanities in seeking that agency’s support. The conference organizers are grateful to the endowment for their generous support, which enabled them to assemble an international spectrum of scholars in the fields of linguistics, semiotics, philosophy, anthropology, and psychology.

Many individuals contributed to the success of the conference, particularly Thomas A. Sebeok. His advice during planning and his presentation, “A Semiotic Canter from Clever Hans to Signing Apes” (recently published as chapter 5 of The Sign and Its Masters [Austin: University of Texas Press, 1979]) bear witness to his enduring commitment to the discipline of semiotics and to the humane sciences in general.

Morton W. Weir, then Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Illinois, opened the conference. Several eminent University of Illinois faculty served as chairmen of the various sessions: Charles E. Caton of Philosophy, Robert B. Lees (Tel-Aviv) formerly of the Department of Linguistics, Frederic K. Lehman of Anthropology, and Howard S. Maclay of Communications Research. To them and in particular to Braj B. Kachru, Head of the Department of Linguistics and Director of the 1978 Linguistic Institute of the Linguistic Society of America, who chaired the opening session and gave unstintingly of his advice in the organization stages of the conference, we express our gratitude.

We further acknowledge the kind help of George Godfrey and G. Trevor Tunnicliff in providing an excellent sound system and recordings of the proceedings. The assistance of Lynne Bils, Barbara Greim, Warren Hapke, Wayne Harbert, Jürgen Högl, Michael Phillips, Josephine Wilcock, Barbara Woodward, and Donna Zych will ever be highly valued. Finally we thank the University of Illinois, especially the George A. Miller Committee, the School of Humanities, the School of Social Sciences, the Departments of Anthropology, Linguistics, and Philosophy, as well as the Division of English as a Second Language for joining the sponsorship of the conference on The Signifying Animal.