BEYOND ARBITRARINESS: THE SOMATIC BLUEPRINT OF THE “ODAM TILI” THEORY

Abstract:

For more than a century, modern linguistics has largely adhered to the doctrine proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure regarding the arbitrariness of the linguistic sign. According to this paradigm, the relationship between signifier (sound form) and signified (concept) is conventional and historically contingent rather than naturally motivated. The present article introduces a radically alternative framework known as the Odam Tili (Human Language) Theory, which challenges this assumption.