Language, Intentional Actions, and Transvaluation: A Semiotic Differentiation of Pretending from Lying and Cheating

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Online published: 2020-07-25

Abstract

Language can be used to carry one’s intention. When intention is related to transvaluation, people may well differ in interpreting the same semiotic communication. In an experimental investigation, we have found that people have labeled the same action with such words as lying, cheating and pretending. To put their diverging views into the framework of Pearson’s USSD-2000, we have found that the semiotic mechanism of transvaluation accounts for the possible intentional actions which are the embodiment of people’s different employment of value-judgment, truth-judgment and effect-judgment in a same particular case. A conclusion has been reached that pretending tends to be measured with effect-judgment while lying is susceptible to the measurement of truth-judgment and cheating is subject to value-judgment.

Cite this article

DU Shihong, Charls Pearson . Language, Intentional Actions, and Transvaluation: A Semiotic Differentiation of Pretending from Lying and Cheating[J]. Contemporary Foreign Languages Studies, 2015 , 15(10) : 1 -3 . DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2015.10.001

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