Gradience

"This article refers to the use of this term in the fields of linguistics and semiotics. See the related term gradient for more general use."

Gradience as a linguistic concept was first advanced by linguist Dwight Bolinger to describe the effect seen in the spectrum of probability. Gradience, as word or trope, is visually represented with signs or images.

Overview

Words in context can evoke a perceptual or practicable 'gradient' relationship on an object. The internal character of this graded relation may be compositionally graded or uncountable.

Gradience as word or trope is made more visual with signs or images.

Examples

*Human language use can be very imprecise, therefore a great deal is argued on this account, matters about modal verbs like should, would or could.

*A preposition such as "" may arc anywhere in relating to its object between generally "towards" or "actually at".

*Children will make repetitive use of the amplifying adverb "very" to assert, persuade or insist on the object of a degree phrase; similarly, adults might use profanity in the same manner. No strictly relevant content is added, but the object's intentional volume is a free variable.

The concept of gradience is thus composed of two types: graded and indeterminate. Unfortunately, both types can echo the concept itself. Related ideas in other disciplines have a considerable history.

Related ideas in other disciplines

When seen under syntactic theory, found gradiences are terminal objects or 'events' delivered by some grammatical function through a verb or other functional head.

*In mathematics, the number line is said to be infinitely dense. One can probe up and down, or within, but still find only more numbers.

*In quantum physics, objects or phenomena apparently lose or gain exhibited gradience upon observation.

*In ethology, pragmatics and sociology, human behaviours may exhibit perhaps uncountable degrees of indeterminacy or gradience

*Psychology and theology have explored the related problems of free will and determinism.

Further questions

* What cases or events constitute demonstrably valid examples of differing topograms for "gradience"?
* Do space and time exhibit gradience or are they discoverably atomic? See natural units.
* Can computers be taught to deal with these issues with respect to formalizing natural language relationships?

ee also

*Linguistics
*Zeno's paradoxes
*Excluded middle
*Pragmatics
*Semiotics

References

Dwight Bolinger in "Aspects of Language"