Project Glossary

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!! - at present definitions written in short hand - to be revised shortly! - with hypertext links to semantically related terms, as well as other texts

• A

Aarne-Thompson Index Numbers

- Finnish/American index system for folktales based on themes -- Propp found this method insubstantial to account for the variations in his data

Abduction ---

***epistem. vide: Peirce

Actantial Analysis

type of structural analysis propposed by A. J. Greimas, inspired by Propp

Allomotif

motifs in either/or relationship

Assimilation

where one Proppian function assumes some of the character of another one - encoded through the use of a secondary attribute value---

Auxillary Function

(e.g. Incantation, _Notification_, Narrator's Epilogue)

• B

Bootstrap

(Sampling Method Used in Cladistics)

• C

Character Weighing (from Cladistics)

process whereby one compares the characteristics of two instances of the same code to determine the degree of relatedness

Cladistics

study of relationships between beings based on similarities and differences ----

Cladogram

also called dendrogram -- tree gram showing degree of relatedness between organic entities

class

tent.: through decomposition of its structural features, a class of tales is distingued from others

Code

"the rules and sets of identifiable elements, an understanding of which allo0w us to interpret an aesthetic work." ******

Connectives

---notification--- dialogue - mediation - ...

Constraint

(also see validation) - storyteller constrained by rules of inherited cultural tradition *** (one wouldn't need waters of life to fly away from a villain) and the tale by rules of common sense

Context-Free Grammar

Chomsky mathematical formalism for language ----

• D

Decode

to unravel

Denouement Function

(e.g. Liquidation of Lack, Return, Recognized Arrival, Rescue or Marriage, etc.)

Dispatcher

the one who sends out for the seeker-hero - often the king

Distance

degree of dissimilarity between two instances of the same code --

Donor

(e.g. OB-1, Yoda, Baba-Yaga, et. al.) - 5 functions of donors - three types: 1) universal, 2.) partial and 3.) specific ---

Dramatis Personaen

in Propp: ------villain: donor: helper: princess: dispatcher: hero: false-hero (vs. that of Greimas ppg.***)

DTD

(Document Type Definition) ---- rules for EBNF transformational grammar of tex

• E

EBNF

(Extended Backus-Naur Formalism)

Element Inventory

(see Culler)

Embedding

(also see Nesting)

Encode

from idea to signifier

Etic/Emic

basic abstract units of any structural analysis

• F

Function

character defined by action performed --- in Proppian analysis

False-Hero

in ____ function --- Alkinous in the Odyssey

• G

Greimas, A.

attempted to generalize Propp's findings for _all_ narrative activity, building up his semantics from the units of morphemes extending into complete corpora - structural semantics - his finding highly stimulatiing

• H
• I

Incantation

Set verbal phrase used to provoke the attention of a listener or reader, commonly found in remants of oral folk art.

Isomorph

same structure

• J
• K
• L

langue

system belieing expression

• M

Magic Agent

(e.g. the Force, "gold, frankincense and myrrh," a magic comb) - in wondertales, these objects frequently act similar to living things (ppg. 82)

Markup

wrapping stuff in XML or SGML Elements --- see OHCO hypothesis --- see other Renear article on procedural markup

Morphology

study of the physical structure of s.t.

Move

movement from villainy to lack ----

Multiple Correlation

[of functions to one another]

• N

Narrative

telling stuff ----- root: gnarus (Lat.) meaning --- "one who knows"

Narratology

study of narrative - see Gerard Prince in Narrative Reader

Narreme

emic unit of narrative code

• O

OHCO model

Ordered Hierarchy of Content Objects see Renear et al. 1997

Overcoding

***

• P

Paradigm

desribes what goes with what ---- in cultural system

Parole

manifestation of langue in Saussure's semiology

Phenetic Approach

classification into a membership of a genre by its overall similarity to others in that class

Plot

see E.M. Forster ---- Theory of the Novel

Princess

the often sought-for person

Propp, Vladimir Ia. (b. 1895-1970)

Russian folklorist - associated vaguely with late Russian Formalism. Wrote his Morphology inspired more by Goethe's botanical studies than by Saussurean linguistics.

Proppian Analysis

type of analysis applied to folklore developed by Vladimir Ia. Propp------- see structural analysis

• Q
• R

Representation

***

Russian Formalism

study of formal qualities of a work, often to the disregard of ideological content (contra Belinsky ____letter to Gogol)

• S

Schema

system of organizing info

Seeker-Hero

Protagonist who plays active role in plot, who is departs on his/her own accord to rescue the princess or slay the greedy evil dragon

Segmentation

(the decomposition of a whole into its component parts according to some system (see system)). has been done with film, language and now texts

Semeiosis

process of signification -- encoding and decoding

Semiotics

study of the process of semeiosis -

SGML

(Standard Generalized Markup Language)

Signifier

---- a sign --- in our case, a linguistic convention: a oral or written symbol

Signified

What is represented by a signifier

Sphere of Action

pg. 79 ------villain: donor: helper: princess: dispatcher: hero: false-hero

Story

What happens and how it is told (see E.M. Forster's def.)

Storyteller

(Walter Benjamin's Definition) et al.

Structural Analysis

see Paul Riceour's comments in Culler (1974) "(a) work on closed system (b) establish inventories of elements (c) place these elements in relationships of opposition (d) establish a calculus of possible combinations" --- also Todorov, Colby, Dundes.

Structuralism

(see Culler's definition and Nabakov's rebuttle of all ism's in notes to e. onegin)

Symbol

a conventionally (learned, culturally) adopted sign used to signify (or represent) something else

Syntagma

a unit of actual rather than potential relationship ... the syntagma describes what follows what, rather than what goes with what (contrast paradigm)

System

the systeme du langue - rules underlying the production of a semeiotic event -

• T

Taxon

type, species -

Taxonomy

the study of how organic beings are to be classified in genetic relationship to one another.

TEI (Text Encoding Initiative)

an ongoing international project to promote the digital standardization of text markup

Text Grammar

from a given corpus ... see Paul Riceour in Culler (1974) --- _descriptive_ though some would say that its aims are _prescriptive_ Todorov, Propp, Eco, Colby, Dundes et. al.

Trebling

a triplication of some element; e.g. struggle/victory is often trebled.

• U

Undercoding

***

• V

Validation

also see DTD: is the morphologist correct in his/her evaluation? any missing elements, etc.?

Veselovskij

Father of Russian Cultural Studies. He anticipated Propp's work with his studies on the tabulation of motifs.

Victim-Hero

Protagonist who plays passive role in plot, who has things "done" to him - or objects taken away ---

Villain

Defined in opposition to hero - what he does to or takes away from hero. Found in these functions: ....

• W

Wondertale (in Afanas'ev's Corpus)

AT#'s 300-450 ------ Zaubermaerchen ---- pg. 99 of Morphology - attempt at def. of ---

• X

XML

Extensible Markup Language - metamarkup technology optimized for the world wide web

• Y
• Z

Bibliography

Eco, Umberto.

(1984) Theory of Semiotics. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press.

Culler, Johnathan.

(1974) Structuralist Poetics. Ithical: Cornell University Press.

Deely, Jonathan.

(1999) Basics of Semiotics. Bloomington: University of Indiana Press.

Forey, P.L., C.J. Humphries, I.J. Kitching, et. al.

(1992) Cladistics: a Practical Course. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Greimas, A. J.

(1984) Structural Semantics. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press.

Propp, Vladimir.

(1928) Morphology of the Folktale. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Saussure, Ferdinand de

(1914) Course de Linguistique Generale. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Last Updated 10.30.2001 by SAM