Title:What Significant Achievements have Linguists Made? At the Heart of the Problem of Continuity of Language
VOLUME: 4 ISSUE: 3
Author(s):Changbo Li
Affiliation:Center for Japanese language and culture, Doshisha University, P.O. Box: 602-8580, Kyoto
Keywords:Energeia, Saussure's Antinomy, historicism and continuity systematization according to the Kyoto School of Linguistics,
Copernican revolution, roadway connection.
Abstract:Background: In the Kyoto School of Linguistics, which originated with Dr. Hisanosuke
Izui, scholars have made great accounts of the continuity of language that represent a significant
achievement in 20th century linguistics.
Objective: In this paper, we assert that Eugenio Coseriu in Europe and Dr. Hisanosuke Izui in East
Asia attempted to overcome Saussure’s Antinomy of synchrony and diachrony based on the language
viewpoints of Wilhelm von Humboldt.
Results: In a particular utilitarian effort to illustrate the continuity of language, the Kyoto School of
Linguistics developed two models: one is a linear schematization using one attribute, and the other is an
octahedron.
Conclusion: The three-way model and the triangle model of C.S. Peirce may be more applicable to
these complex systems.
