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(1979) Semiotics in Poland 1984–1969, Dordrecht, Springer.
Veni, vidi, vici. We know quite well to what these words, addressed by Caesar to the Roman Senate, referred: to the events which occurred when the Roman troops came face to face with the army of the king of Pontus. To what, however, does the statement made by a student during his Latin class refer if that student says that "Caesar said that he came, saw and conquered" ? Does it refer to the same events to which Caesar's words refer, and if it does, what does it say about those events ? Does it say that they were the subject matter of the report made by Caesar to the Senate ? Or is it a statement not about military events, but about linguistic events, namely the pithy formulation coined by the conqueror? Or is it a statement about Caesar's state of mind at the time when he was making it ? When we refer to his words by using their English-language version we do not reproduce the sounds which were then heard in the Senate chamber; we merely reproduce the speaker's thought, and hence his state of mind.
Publication details
DOI: 10.1007/978-94-009-9777-6_31
Full citation:
Marciszewski, W. (1979)., The semantic functions of oblique speech, in J. Pelc (ed.), Semiotics in Poland 1984–1969, Dordrecht, Springer, pp. 407-432.
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