Cell Language Theory, The: Connecting Mind And Matter

182 The Cell Language Theory: Connecting Mind and Matter

b2861 The Cell Language Theory: Connecting Mind and Matter “6x9”

of a finite number of words and grammatical rules [247]. Consequently,

sentences embody two diametrically opposed properties — the rule-

governedness due to their compliance to grammatical rules and the crea-

tivity associated with the unpredictability of the sentences uttered by a

person from one moment to the next. In general, physical and formal

systems may be divided into three classes: (i) rule-governed (or determin-

istic) systems (e.g., harmonic oscillators), (ii) deterministically chaotic

systems (e.g., the Henon–Heiles system [248, p. 39], and (iii) rule-gov-

erned creative systems (e.g., natural language, protein folds [19]). Living

systems seem to belong to the third class [19].

4.2.3 Syntagmatic Relation

This is the relationship among words that constitute a sentence. For

example,

(Subject) + (Transitive Verb) + (Indirect Object) + (Direct Object)

He gave her a bouquet of flowers.

She gave me a smile. (4.13)

4.2.4 Paradigmatic Relation

Also called associative relation, the relationship between terms that actu-

ally appear in a sentence and the alternative terms that might intelligibly

have been selected:

He gave her a bouquet of flowers.

He gave her a bouquet of roses.

He gave her a book.

She gave him a book.

They elected him a president. (4.14)

4.2.5 Arbitrariness of Signs

One of the most prominent features of human language, according to

Saussure [245], is the principle of the arbitrariness of signs. Linguistic

signs are arbitrary in the sense that there is no inevitable or natural link

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