"Words are not signs" (Grice, 1948, "Meaning" -- for the Oxford Philosophical Society)

Grice said causally in his talk to the Oxford Philosophical Society in 1948, "Words are not signs". Ann Martin-Strawson typed this and sent it to the Philosohical Review. The rest is history.

A cursory look at the OED notes that they quote from Carnap and Morris. S. Sharpless has helped me to understand the Griceian background to Peirce or vice versa, which I have expanded on elsewhere.

Here is the OED.

"sign". Etymology: French _signe_, from L. _signum_, a mark, a token, etc.
Usages: a gesture or motion of the hand, head, etc., serving to
convey an intimation or to communicate some idea.

First registered use:

1225 Ancr. R. 70
"Heo schal habben leaue to..makien signes touward hire of one glede
chere."

Note the phrase is 'make sign', which is 'signi-FY', since '-fy' is make.
Note that you don't make a sign as you make a cake, I suppose, though.

1350 Will. Palerne 2740
To e hert & e hinde he turned him a-eine, & bi certeyn signes sone he hem
taut.

1385 CHAUCER L.G.W. 2367 Philomene,
She..preyede hym with signys to gon Vn-to the queen..And be signys swor=

hym manye an oth [etc.].

Usage 1.2. A show or pretence of something.
1400 MANDEVILLE (Roxb.) iii. 10
He made signe of etyng and feyned as he had etyn.

This usage seems to imply a counter-factive. I.e. If those spots are signs =
of measles, then Thelma Lou (the spot-holder) can _NOT_ have measles.

Usage 3: a sigNAL
1601 SHAKES. Jul. C. V. i. 23
Mark Antony, shall we giue signe of Battaile?.. No Cæsar.

This is a good quotation, but I'm disappointed by the definition, 'sign, a=

signal'. Why, you could just as well say that the meaning of 'analytic' is=
'analyticAL'.

Usage 2. 1. A mark or device having some special meaning or import
attached to it, or serving to distinguish the thing on which it is put.
Freq. in sign of the cross (cf. CROSS n. 3b).
1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 84 Heo made e signe of e croiz.

2.2. A bookmark; = REGISTER n.1 7a. Obs.0
1483 Cath. Angl. 340/1 A Syne of a buke, registrum.

2.3. A CONVENTIONAL mark, device, or SYMBOL, used technically (as in
music, algebra, botany, etc.) in place of words or names written in
ordinary letters.

1557 RECORDE Whetst. Sjb,

Nombers Cossike, are soche as bee contracte vnto a denomination of some
Cossike signe.

1875 JOWETT Plato (ed. 2) IV. 150
Two minus signs in arithmetic or algebra make a plus.

2.4. Math. A point.
1570 BILLINGSLEY Euclid I. def. 1, A signe or point is that which hath
no part. Ibid., Vnity..is lesse materiall then a signe or poynt.

2.5. Math. That aspect of a quantity which may be either positive or
negative.
1820 G. PEACOCK Differential & Integral Calculus 112 The sign of d2u
may be easily determined.

Usage 3. A mark of attestation (or ownership), written or stamped upon a
document, seal.
1362 LANGL. P. Pl. A. II. 82 e
Deede was a-selet, Be siht of sir Symoni and Notaries signes.

Usage 4. A figure or image; a statue or effigy; an imprint.
1362 LANGL. P. Pl. A. IV. 112
Bere no seluer ouer see at bere signe of e kyng.

Usage 5. A device borne on a banner, shield, etc.; a cognizance or
badge.
1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 158 Ane Croiz, at Man fer isai,.. at was signe
of is baner.


5.2.. Something displayed as an emblem or token; esp. an ensign,
banner, standard.
1400 Song Roland 503 An C thoussand of good men..with proud synes of
silk lifte on loft.


5.3. A pilgrim's token.
1362 LANGL. P. Pl. A. VI. 12 An hundred of ampolles on his hat seeten,
Signes of Synay and Schelles of Galys.


5.4.. pl. Insignia.
1591 SPENSER M. Hubberd 1016 Yet at the last..He all those royall
signes had stolne away.


Usage 6: a characteristic device attached to, or placed in front of, an
inn (house) or shop, as a means of distinguishing it from others or
directing attention to it; in later use commonly a board bearing a name
or other inscription, with or without some ornament or picture. Also, a
board giving information, directions, etc.
1467 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 405 That no person sille none ale out of his
place, but he haue a signe at his dorre.
fig.
1642 FULLER Holy & Prof. St. I. viii. 20 Fools! who to perswade
men that Angels lodged in their hearts, hung out a devil for a signe in
their faces.


In phr. at the sign of (the Bell, Sun, etc.).
1501 Alcock's Mons Perfect. Colophon, Enprynted at London in flete
strete at the sygne of ye sonne by Wynkin de worde.


c. at the sign of the moon, in the open air by night. (After Fr. à
l'enseigne de la lune.)
1613 PURCHAS Pilgrimage III. x. (1614) 294 They often lodge (saith
Willamont) at the signe of the Moone; and the like moderation they vse
in diet and apparel.


7. a token or indication (visible or otherwise) of some
fact, quality, etc. Also the signs of the times, indications of current
trends; now freq. as sing. phr. with leading indef. article.


1297 R. GLOUC. (Rolls) 3744 er nas nour aboute knit..bot hii of sute
were Of king arthures hous, oer som signe er of bere, Of robes oer of
armes.


Used without const., or with clause following.


1380 WYCLIF Sel. Wks. II. 258 Signes of e olde lawe weren toknes of
oure signes now, as ei ben tokenes of e blisse of hevene.


Philosophical Quotes Here:


1890 W. JAMES Princ. Psychol. II. xxii. 356
Language is a system of signs, different from the things signified, but abl=
e
to suggest them.


1902 C. S. PEIRCE Coll. Papers (1932) II. §92
Genuine mediation is the character of a Sign.


1922 tr. Wittgenstein's Tractatus 53
The sign is the part of the symbol perceptible by the senses.


1938 C. W. MORRIS (title) Foundations of the theory of signs.


1964 GOULD & KOLB Dict. Soc. Sci. 641/2
Sign denotes any stimulus which, because of association with another
stimulus, elicits a response appropriate to but in the absence of the
original stimulus.


1978 Incorporated Linguist Summer 60/3
Modern society's haste to read inadvertently into signs (in the Barthesian=


sense) rather than decipher the simple message.


1979 S. G. J. HERVEY Axiomatic Semantics vii. 61
By the law of excluded middle, any given sign is either simple or complex,=


but not both.


Without article, in phr. in sign of (or that).


1297 R. GLOUC. (Rolls) 3986 Branches hii bere Of oliue, as in signe at
hii aen pays nere.


d. Theol. Phr. outward visible sign and varr., in sacramental
ordinances, the outward and visible aspect which symbolizes the inward
and spiritual aspect. Also transf.


1553 J. BRADFORD in Coverdale Lett. Martyrs (1564) 293 There is
Idolatry in worshipping the outwarde signe of breade and wyne.


Interesting Americanism below:


U.S. The trail or trace of wild animals, etc. Sometimes in pl., but the
sing. is the technical use.


1692 Cal. Virginia St. Papers (1875) I. 44


We Ranged about to see if we could find ye tract of any Indians, but we cou=
ld
not see any fresh
signe.


1746 New Hampsh. Hist. Soc. Coll. (1834) IV. 208


By the sign of this ambush, and by the sign of their going off, in a single=


file, it
was supposed there could not be less than 50 or 60 Indians.


1821 J. FOWLER Jrnl. 7 Nov. 36


We see old sign of Indeans... We again See the Sign of White men a Head of=


us.


1847 G. F. RUXTON Mexico & Rocky Mts. xxi. 170,
We saw Indian sign on the banks of the river.


Oddly enough, all those above refer to the signs of the 'Indians'. These us=
es
below, rather, refer to the 'signs' (some fresh) of some American fauna:


1851 MAYNE REID Scalp Hunt. xxxii. 243
Buffalo ‘signs’ appeared as we rode into them.


1890 L. D'OYLE Notches 68
We had noticed bear ‘sign’ in a thick patch of rose-bushes.=
Ibid., Lots of
fresh ‘sign’, but no bear.


Usage f. Med. An objective evidence or indication of disease (as opposed
to a subjective one, or symptom)


-- I suppose this is the use in Tapper's happy detailed utterance, "Those
spots on [the skin of] Thelma Lou are, to me, a sign of [the cause causing]=


measles in[side] Thelma Lou")


; often used with the name of one who
associated an indication with a disease characterized by it, to
designate the former.


1842 W. A. GUY Hooper's Physician's Vademecum (new ed.) I. iii. 16


The word sign has not precisely the same meaning as the term symptom, thoug=
h
the two terms are sometimes used without much discrimination... Cough,
expectoration, dyspna, hectic fever, night sweats, and emaciation, are
symptoms of pulmonary consumption, but they are not signs, for each of
them may occur in other diseases; but cavernous respiration and
pectoriloquy are signs. Ibid., The term physical sign is in common use
among medical men: it means a sign which is an object of sense. Thus
heat, redness, and swelling are physical signs of inflammation,
pectoriloquy of phthisis, coagulable urine of disease of the kidney.


The quote above is interesting, since it involves an analysis of the
distinction of sign vs. symptom in terms of necessary and sufficient condit=
ions
(Mill's Method).


1851 R. P. COTTON Phthisis & Stethoscope i. 12


Physical signs by themselves, as a general rule, determine nothing more tha=
n
physical
conditions..; hence it is, that we require the use of other rules, as
well as a knowledge of the patient's history and general symptoms. Ibid.
ii. 24 Diminished resonance is one of the earliest and most
characteristic signs of phthisis.


1872 W. WILLIAMS Princ. & Pract. Vet. Surg. xiii. 244
The diagnostic signs of elbow-joint lameness are, first, the semi-flexed
position of the limb..whilst standing still; and the
dropping of the head and anterior parts of the body during action.


1886 J. FINLAYSON Clin. Manual for Study Med. Cases (ed. 2) ii. 51
A pain is a ‘Symptom’ (subjective); a bulging chest, to whi=
ch it may be due,
is a
‘Sign’ (objective): giddiness is a ‘Symptom €=
™ (subjective); the
staggering resulting from it is a ‘Sign’ (objective).


1908 Practitioner Jan. 10 We do not obtain ankle clonus, or Babinsky's, or=


Oppenheim's
sign.


1927 G. W. DEEPING Kitty xv. 193 Mr. St. George had an undoubted
paraplegia. There was definite spasticity of the lower limbs...
Babinski's sign was present.


1956 A. I. LITTLEJOHN tr. D. Wirth's Vet.
Clin. Diagnosis 1 Symptoms in the medical sense are not available to the
veterinary diagnostician, but the substitution of the term ‘symptom=
’ for
‘sign’ in veterinary usage is widespread.


1971 S. MAGALINI Dict. Med.
Syndromes 148/1 Dercum's [syndrome]... Symptoms. Prevalent in women 40
to 60 years of age. Pain in part of body where localized accumulation of
fat occurs. Asthenia, headache... Signs. Subcutaneous accumulation of
fat elevated, dry, reddish, or bluish, anesthesia and diminished
cutaneous sensibility.


1974 T. MCGINNIS Well Dog Bk. (1979) 95 Because
your dogs cannot describe their feelings in words, they technically have
no symptoms, only signs which are any objective evidence of disease or
injury you can detect.


Usage 8. a. A trace or indication of something; a vestige.
1300. Seuyn Sag. 2934 (W.), So he traueld monethes thre, And no signe
of hyr kowth he se.


8.2. A mere semblance of something.
1607 BRETON A Murmurer Wks. (Grosart) II. 8/2 Oh fine foole, how thou
wouldest haue the signe of a man stand for a man?


Usage 9: An indication of some coming event; spec. an omen or portent.
1300. Cursor M. 22430 (Gött.), Forn domes-dai ai sal be sene, wid
sorful sines ful fijf-tene.


I suppose that usage above is the one in Grice's "Those black clouds mean
[are a sign of] rain" (WOW, 'Meaning Revisited') -- as opposed to 'Smoke me=
ans
[is a sign of] fire' -- i.e. smoke does not mark a _coming_ event, unlike a=


black cloud. This reminds me of Grice in two of his utterances, "How clever=


language is!" and "I don't care what the dictionary says!").


Usage 10. An act of a miraculous nature, serving to demonstrate divine
power or authority. In Biblical use, after L. signum, Gr. .
1300 Cursor M. 13420 is was e formast sign he did. Ibid.


A marvel or wonder.
1400 Alexander 4934
Sire, ou sall see with i sit slike signes, or ou passe, As neuire segge
vndire son sae bot ine ane.


11. Astr., one or other of the twelve equal divisions of the
Zodiac, each distinguished by the name of a constellation and frequently
denoted by a special symbol.
1340 HAMPOLE Pr. Consc. 4803 e twelfte day aftir, e sternes alle And
e signes fra e heven sal falle.


A constellation.
1398 TREVISA Barth. De P.R. VIII. xxiii. (Bodl. MS),
Arcturus is a signe ymade of vij. sterres. Ibid., Orioun is a signe that
ariseth in
wintere.


Usage 12. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1) sign-language (also fig.),
-maker, -speech, -talk; (sense 2c) sign-symbol; (sense 5) sign-mark;
(sense 6) sign-iron, -painter, -writer (WRITER 1b), -writing; (sense 7)
sign-situation, -system, -using vbl. n. and ppl. adj., -word; (sense 11)
sign-carrier.


Other interesting quotes in combos:


1946 C. W. MORRIS Signs, Lang. & Behav. i. 7


And goal-seeking behavior in which signs exercise control may be called
sign-behavior.


Sharpless possibly would like this:


1942 R. CARNAP Introd. Semantics §3.5


"The word ‘sign’ is ambiguous. It means sometimes a single =
object or event,
sometimes a kind to which many
objects belong. Whenever necessary, we shall use ‘sign-event €=
™ in the
first case, ‘sign-design’ in the second."


Surely for Grice 'sign' is _monoguous_: it's different speakers or the same=


speaker on different occasions which derive different meanings from it. It'=
s
certainly not a _polysemous_ word.


1944 Mind LIII. 36
The sign-design is what is usually meant when we use such words as €=
˜symbol’,
‘word’, ‘sentence’. It is the form or struc=
ture common to a set of
actual occurrences (sounds, marks, gestures) whereby they function
symbolically.


1974 M. TAYLOR tr. Metz's Film Lang. iii. 90
Between wordspure ‘sign events’ as they are called in Ameri=
can semiotics,
events
that never occur twice..and language..there is room for the study of
‘sign designs’, sentence patterns.


1946 C. W. MORRIS Signs, Lang. & Behav. i. 3
Terms which are commonly used in describing sign-processes.


1938 C. W. MORRIS Found. of Theory of Signs i. 4
In such cases S is the sign vehicle.., D the designatum, and I the
interpretant of the
interpreter.


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