s - Wyższa Szkoła Filologiczna we Wrocławiu

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Richard L. Lanigan
The lexicon consists of words in the following categories (* = my translation):
(1) Alphabet (Navajo)
(2) Alphabet (Military English, e.g., “Able” for A, “Baker” for B, etc.)
(3) Names of Various Organizations, e.g., “Salt” [Ashih-hi] for Division.
(4) Officers, e.g., “Two Star” [So-na-kih] for Major General.
(5) Names of Countries, e.g., “Our Mother” [Ne-he-mah] for America.
(6) Names of Airplanes, e.g., “Chicken Hawk” [Gini] for Dive Bomber.
(7) Names of Ships, e.g., “Whale” [Lo-tso] for Battle Ship.
(8) Names of Months, e.g., “Small Eagle” [Atasah-be-yaz] for January.
(9) Vocabulary (all syntactical categories), e.g.,
“Making Talk” [Ha-neh-al-enji] for Communication.
“Home” [Hogan] for Department.
“Small Pup” [Tse-le] for Do.
“Cliff Dwelling” [Ah-na-sozi-yazzie] for Fortification.
“Lamb East” [De-be-yazie-ha-a-ah] for Least. (homophone)
“Man Age” [Hastni-beh-na-hai] for Manage. (homophone)
“No Turkey” [Ni-dah-than-zie] for Not.
“Rib” [Atsanh] for Parenthesis.
“Egg Fly” [A-ye-shi-na-tah-ih] for Robot Bomb.
“Turkey Hat” [Tazi-cha] for That. (orthographic similitude)
(10) Special Field (Combat) Terms:
(a) Colors:
Red [Lichii]
Green [Tatlid-go-dootizh} = literal “Watermoss of Blue/Green”*
Yellow [Ltso]
Blue [Dootizh] = literal “Blue/Green” {“Blue” is arbitrary}*
White [Lighi]
(b) Numbers: 1 = [A-la-ih} = “One” (through) 10 = [Neeznaa] = ‘Ten’.
Using numbers in particular and all messages in general, also required
a signal to mark the end of a message unit, especially to signal turn-taking to the
other communicator. This signal was: “Pass” [Bi-sodih-be Jilchii] = ‘Pig/Ass’
3.4. A discourse sample
As a way of summarizing the main points of my analysis, Figure 8 provides
a sample lexicon item as it fits in the discourse model noted in Figures 2 and 3
above. American English provides the language universal (langage) or lexical
item “Airplane”. Within the semiotic system of American English, we have the
particular language usage (langue) intended by the U.S. Marine Signal Corps,
i.e., “Observation Plane”. The conception of an airplane used “to observe from
above” encapsulates the very unique behavior of the animal we know in English
as the “Owl”. It is, therefore, quite natural for a Navajo to think of the name Neas-jah
as the discursive word (discours) to code the English lexical item “Observation
Airplane” (parole). Please recall the directionality of Figure 3. This is