Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

ON THE ANTITHETICAL MEANING OF PRIMITIVE WORDS
Sigmund Freud (1910)

Summary:
In my interpretation of dreams, I emphasize how the behaviour of the dream in the face of antithesis and contradiction is
extraordinary
...
This uniqueness of sleep has been observed both in antiquity and by modern researchers who have explored its
meaning and interpretability
...

Recently, my understanding of this tendency has been strengthened by reading a paper by the philologist K
...
Abel highlights how
in the Egyptian language, certain words had two meanings, one of which was the antithesis of the other, suggesting a kind of
"double understanding" in their language
...

He argues that a people capable of significant technological and ethical achievements could not have been stupid in their everyday
language and thinking
...

Before attempting to explain this peculiar procedure of the Egyptian language, it is important to note its exacerbation in the use
of compound words that combine terms with opposite meanings
...

However, the solution to this conundrum is simpler than it seems
...
Everything in this world
is relative and only exists independently when it differs from and relates to other things
...
Man has not been able to develop his simplest concepts without contrasting them with their
opposites and learning to discriminate between them
...
For example, the word "ken" for "strong" had behind its phoneme
the image of an erect and armed man, while for "weak", the same word was followed by the image of a man curled up and lax
...

Our author points out that this phenomenon of antithetical double entendres is observed mainly in the "oldest roots" of language
...
Words that originally had two meanings were split in later language into two singlemeaning words, with each of the opposite meanings undergoing a different modification of the same root
...
Our author points out that Bain, a philosopher, proposed the double meaning of words as a logical necessity
...

The existence of metathesis in ancient Egyptian, where words could invert both their meaning and the order of phonemes, is
considered another interesting linguistic phenomenon
...
It is hypothesized that a better understanding of the evolution of spoken language could facilitate the
understanding and translation of dream language
...
He emphasizes the peculiarity of dreams in that they merge the
antitheses into a unity or represent them together, completely dispensing with contradiction
...


1
Made by MatyBuda

The author's interpretation is strengthened by considering the similarity between this dream tendency and a peculiarity of Egyptian
language, where certain words had two meanings, one of which was the antithesis of the other
...

In addition, it is highlighted how this peculiarity of the Egyptian language is reflected in the use of compound words that combine
terms with opposite meanings, as well as in the existence of metathesis, where words can invert both their meaning and the order
of the phonemes
...

In summary, the text offers a fascinating exploration of the relationship between dreams and language, highlighting the peculiarity
of how dreams deal with antithesis and contradiction, and suggests that better understanding the evolution of spoken language
could shed light on the understanding of dreams and their meaning
...

- We note that this dream tendency has been identified both in antiquity and by modern researchers, who have
explored its meaning and interpretability
...

- The relevance of the work of the philologist K
...

- Abel highlights how in the Egyptian language, certain words had two meanings, one of which was the antithesis of
the other, defying simple explanations such as casual homophony or a supposed lack of intellectual evolution of the
Egyptians
...

- The exacerbation of this phenomenon is pointed out in the use of compound words in the Egyptian language, where
two opposite terms join together to form a compound that only represents the meaning of one of its constituent
elements
...

- Regarding the communication of these ambiguous concepts in ancient Egypt, the use of determinative images in
writing and complementary gestures in spoken language is mentioned
...

- It is mentioned that this phenomenon of contradictory primitive meanings is also found in the Semitic and IndoEuropean languages, and examples of words with opposite meanings that share the same root are presented
...

- It is hypothesized that a better understanding of the evolution of spoken language could facilitate the understanding
and translation of dream language

---