H. P. GRICE E J. L. SPERANZA: LA CONVERSAZIONE -- I VERBALI: PARENTE

 G.: Parente again, and his febbre gialla. S.: You are taking a peculiar interest in it. G.: Entirely because of “Those spots mean measles.” S.: You suspect a parallel. G.: Or a confusion. “Febbre gialla” looks like a predicate misapplied. The fever is not, strictly, yellow. S.: The patient is. G.: Precisely. The yellowness attaches to the jaundice, not to the fever as such. S.: So a metonym. G.: Or a loose sign-label. The symptom lends its adjective to the disease. S.: Then we should rewrite. G.: Yes. x are symptoms, y is that he has yellow fever, z is the addressee. S(x,p,z). S.: Where p is always propositional. G.: Always. “He has yellow fever,” not “yellow fever” as a mere label. S.: Then Parente, as physician, sees x. G.: Exactly. Spots, discoloration, fever, perhaps hemorrhagic signs. S.: And infers p. G.: Yes. From x to p by a causal route. S.: That is natural meaning. G.: Entirely. The symptoms mean that he has yellow fever. S.: But you dislike “mean.” G.: I prefer signat. The symptoms sign that he has yellow fever to the competent observer. S.: And Parente is competent. G.: One hopes so, given the circumstances aboard a ship in Rio. S.: Then the triad again. x the symptoms, p the that-clause, z Parente. G.: Yes. S(x,p,Parente). S.: But Parente also reports to others. G.: So Parente becomes U, the utterer, and by uttering a diagnosis he signat p to A. S.: U signat p ad A per x. G.: Precisely. He uses the symptoms as evidence in forming and conveying p. S.: Now the scientific name. G.: Yes, you wanted that. The cause is a virus. S.: The yellow fever virus. G.: Which is transmitted by mosquitoes, but we must not invent details beyond what we strictly need. S.: The point is causal. G.: Exactly. The spots in measles and the jaundice in yellow fever are causally linked to the disease. S.: So natural meaning is factive. G.: In the ideal case. If x truly results from the disease, then x signat that p. S.: But we can fake x. G.: Yes. One can simulate symptoms. S.: Then x no longer guarantees p. G.: And we move toward non-natural meaning, or at least non-factive sign-use. S.: A malingerer. G.: Or worse, a deceiver. One produces x intending A to infer p falsely. S.: Then U signat p ad A per x, but p is false. G.: Exactly. The structure remains, but factivity fails. S.: You mentioned Dahl’s daughter. G.: A sad case of illness and misinterpretation, often invoked in discussions of diagnosis and error. S.: So even in medicine, signatio can mislead. G.: Indeed. The doctor infers p from x, but the inference may be mistaken. S.: Then Parente’s case is interesting only if the inference is correct. G.: Otherwise it is a lesson in fallibility. S.: Let us return to the word “gialla.” G.: Yes. You wanted the earliest usage. S.: Or at least the application of “yellow” to fever. G.: I am curious whether “yellow fever” is first an English designation or a translation of an earlier Romance usage. S.: Italian “febbre gialla.” G.: Latin perhaps febris flava, though one must be cautious. S.: Because Latin physicians might not have used that exact phrase. G.: Exactly. One must consult the OED for English and medical Latin for the rest. S.: You want the first OED citation. G.: Naturally. It would show when “yellow” becomes attached to “fever” as a disease-name. S.: And whether the colour-term is descriptive or classificatory. G.: Quite. Whether it denotes a symptom or defines a category. S.: Then your interest is semantic. G.: Entirely. How a predicate migrates from symptom to disease. S.: As with measles and spots. G.: Yes. “Spots mean measles,” but we do not call measles “spot-fever.” S.: Though one might. G.: Indeed, and languages sometimes do. S.: Then Parente sees jaundice. G.: Yes, x. S.: Infers p: he has yellow fever. G.: And perhaps utters, “È febbre gialla.” S.: Which is already a linguistic compression. G.: Precisely. The that-clause is suppressed. S.: So the utterance implicates the fuller proposition. G.: Yes. The hearer recovers p. S.: By rational inference. G.: Exactly. Which is the beginning of my interest. S.: From symptoms to propositions. G.: And from utterances to intended meanings. S.: Then Parente is both interpreter and utterer. G.: Yes. First z, then U. S.: And the addressee may be a crew, a captain, or a medical colleague. G.: Each with different inferential competence. S.: Then z varies. G.: And so does the reliability of uptake. S.: Now, could Parente be mistaken. G.: Certainly. Suppose another disease mimics the symptoms. S.: Then x is ambiguous. G.: Exactly. S(x,p,z) competes with S(x,q,z). S.: Where q is a different disease. G.: Yes. Differential diagnosis. S.: So natural meaning is defeasible. G.: Precisely. Which brings it closer to conversational implicature. S.: You are pleased. G.: Immensely. The boundary is less rigid than textbooks suggest. S.: Now the OED again. G.: I want to know when “yellow fever” enters English. S.: And whether it is calqued. G.: Yes. From Spanish or Portuguese, perhaps, given the geography. S.: Rio de Janeiro suggests Portuguese. G.: Exactly. Febre amarela. S.: Which becomes “yellow fever.” G.: And then enters English medical vocabulary. S.: So the adjective travels. G.: And with it the metonymy. S.: Then Parente writes in Italian. G.: Yes, “La febbre gialla.” S.: Which already presupposes a settled nomenclature. G.: Precisely. The language has fixed the disease-name. S.: Even if the semantics remains loose. G.: Indeed. The fever is not yellow, but the disease is so called. S.: Then the sign becomes conventional. G.: Yes. We move from natural sign to lexicalised term. S.: Which no longer requires inference from symptoms. G.: Exactly. One can say “yellow fever” without seeing any yellow. S.: Then signatum detaches from signans. G.: Nicely put. S.: So Parente’s title already encodes a history of sign-use. G.: And a small semantic shift from symptom to classification. S.: Which interests you more than the philanthropy. G.: Considerably more. S.: Then your notes on “Meaning” will include febbre gialla. G.: At least as a footnote. S.: Alongside measles and spots. G.: Yes. A small tropical supplement. S.: Dry enough. G.: Entirely appropriate for a fever.