Language, Body, and Soul

A Theory of Language typically takes its point of departure by distinguishing between the physicality. e. g. sound or scrawl, and the Meaning, of a linguistic Sign. Usually, this distinction is conceived in terms of the Body vs. Soul contrast, with the latter as the essential aspect of a Sign, and the former, inessential. In the Formaterial Individual, the fundamental pair are the processes of Externalization and Internalization. In the sphere of Language activity, the primary locus of the interaction between Externalization and Internalization is Communication, i. e. speaking and listening, writing and reading, of which the 'interior monologue' is only a special case. Hence, any abstraction from the Communicative context, i. e. the study of Signs, Speech, Writing, Thinking, etc. is not merely a derivative or superficial Theory of Language, but one that misses its fundamental nature.