When music meets language

Ang, Thiah Huat

Abstract

Language is a human communication tool and semiotics system, used to convey meaning and express. Similarly, music has its own semiotic set, comparable to that of language, able to evoke specific emotions, sensations without text. Language and music are socially cohesive codes, delineating groups within society and culture, understood by those to whom it _belongs._ As language is a social cohesive, defining social groups can be achieved through different musical systems, for example, Malaysian and Western music. As language is dynamic, adjusting to contemporary conditions and technologies, music appears to be undergoing similar adaptation. Audio is compressed for headphone reproduction and MP3 and this reduction in the sonic is changing the aesthetic of what is considered _ideal_. We shall suggest that there is a similar reductive quality in the content of music that may be compared to the shorthand language of the SMS. Key words: Language; music; semiotics system.

References

Bohlman, P. (1999). Ontologies of Music.OUP: Oxford.

Burnham, S.(2001). How Music Matters: Poetic Content Revisited. OUP: Oxford

Burt, W. (2009). Some words in praise of non-verbal intelligence In Warrenburt.com - an

essay. Retrieved from

http://www.warrenburt.com/some_words_in_praise_of-non-ve/

Chandler, D. (2002).Semiotics: The Basics. New York: Routledge.

Chomsky, N. (1957), Syntactic Structures, The Hague.Paris: Mouton.

Cook, N. (2003) The Other Beethoven: Heroism, the Canon, and the Works of 1813–14

in 19th-Century Music Vol. 27, No. 1 (Summer 2003). University of

California Press, pp. 3-24. Retrieved from

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/ncm.2003.27.1.3

Connolly, P. (2012). http://footyalmanac.com.au/?p=36024 retrieved10 June 2012.

Cumming, N. (2000). The Sonic Self. Indiana University Press. Bloomington,:USA.

Davies, S. (1994). Musical Meaning and Expression.Cornell University Press,:New

York.

Dobrian, C. (1992) Music and Language.

http://music.arts.uci.edu/dobrian/CD.music.lang.htm retrieved 22 July 2012.

Foley, W. (1997). Anthropological Linguistics: An Introduction. Blackwell:London.

Fink, R. (2001).Going FlatPost-Heirarchical Music Thoery and the Musical Surface.

OUP :Oxford.

Qureshi, RB. (2001) Other Musicologies: Exploring issues and Confronting Practice in

India. OUP :Oxford.

Reich, W. (1974) .Listen, Little Man. MacMillan:New York.

Scruton, R. (1997). The aesthetics of Music. Oxford University Press,:Oxford.

Scruton, R. (2011). Why Music? Is Music Different from the Other Arts? Conference

Proceedings from paper Can there be a Science of Musical Understanding?

retrieved from

http://www.themusicalbrain.org/events/5past_event_musical_brain_conferen

ce_2011_why_music_is_music_different_from_the_other_arts.html

Suhor,Charles.(1997).Semiotics And The English.LanguageArts.Philosophy Of

Mathematics Education Journal 10.

Tonality. (2012). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/599046/tonality