Skip to main content

A Symbolic Reconstruction of Signum: Beyond Indo-European Hypotheses

The Latin neuter sīgnŭm /ˈsiːɡ.nʊm/ (< earlier sīg-nom) is traditionally glossed as ‘sign, mark, token’. Classical Indo-European etymologies situate it within two principal derivational pathways:

  1. PIE sek- ‘to cut, divide’
    → semantic trajectory “cut, incision → mark”
    → Latin secāre ‘to cut’, segmentum
  2. PIE sekʷ- ‘to follow, pursue’
    → semantic trajectory “follow → indicate → signify”
    → Latin sequor, consequi

Both reconstructions are formally plausible but exhibit nontrivial semantic discontinuities and fail to account for the internal morphological structure sīg- + -num.

1. Symbolic-Morphological Decomposition: (SY) + (G) Hypothesis

Under a symbolic philology framework, sīgnŭm may be decomposed into the symbolic root SY plus the object-marker consonant G, yielding a structure SY-G + -num → “that which the eye directs itself toward.”

The proposed symbolic root SY corresponds to Albanian sy /sy/ ‘eye’ < Proto-Albanian *su/*sü/*si (> PIE ḱsu-? or pre-IE symbolic substrate). Albanian preserves a reflexive cluster around sy/si/sh-, including:

  • sy /sy/ ‘eye’
  • shoh /ʃɔh/ ‘I see’
  • shih /ʃih/ ‘be seen’
  • shikoj /ʃiˈkɔj/ ‘to look, observe’

This cluster displays internal derivational coherence within Proto-Albanian (sh- as viewing agentive prefix + *ik/*ikʲ/ikʷ as directional/actional element).

1.1 Phonological Pathway: k > g

The transition from Albanian shik- /ʃik/ → Latin sīg- /siːɡ/ presupposes the voicing of k > g. This development is typologically common:

  • PIE k > PGmc. g in voiced environments
  • Latin intervocalic k > g is attested in symbolic and onomatological strata
  • Proto-Albanian lenition of k → g in pre-Proto-Albanian substrate layers is documented in parallel lexemes

Thus shik- > sig- is phonologically defensible as a symbolic-morphemic adaptation rather than a regular sound correspondence.

2. Comparative Symbolic Cognate-Field

A visual-symbolic root SY/SI appears diffusely across Indo-European:

Language Form IPA Meaning Notes
Albanian sy /sy/ eye Core symbolic root
Albanian shikoj /ʃiˈkɔj/ look Extended root shik-
English see /siː/ see PGmc. sehwan < pre-IE sy-?
German sehen /ˈzeː.ən/ see /s/ > /z/ voicing
Latin similis /ˈsɪ.mɪ.lɪs/ similar originally “seen-as-the-same”
Greek σύμβολον /ˈsym.bo.lon/ symbol secondarily reinterpreted through sym/syn but with sy- visual resonance
PIE? ḱei-/ḱei̯- — notice, perceive Potential Indo-Europeanization of symbolic sy-

This constellation suggests not linear derivation but survival of a pan-substrate symbolic morpheme for visual perception.

3. Internal Albanian Evidence: shenja

Albanian shenjë /ˈʃɛɲə/ ‘sign, mark’ < Proto-Albanian *senja/sɛnja exhibits dual semantics:

  1. denotational marking (‘sign’)
  2. directional perception (‘that which draws the gaze’)

This duality parallels the proposed symbolic function of SY + G in signum.

The presence of sh- and sy elements within the same semantic domain strengthens the case that Albanian preserves archaic symbolic morphemes corresponding to pre-Indo-European semiotic structures.

4. Formal Symbolic Reconstruction of sīgnŭm

4.1 Reconstruction formula

SY (eye, gaze) + G (object-marker) + -num (Latin nominal suffix)
→ ‘that which is fixed by the gaze’
→ ‘sign, mark, indicator’

4.2 Phonological mapping

Symbolic Unit Proto-Alb. Proto-form Latin Outcome
SY /si, sy/ su, si si sī-
G g̟ g g
Actional suffix -m/-n -m̥/-nom -num

Combined: *si-g-nom → sīgnŭm

Note: the nasal element -nom is a productive neuter-forming suffix in Latin, matching dozens of abstract/result nouns (scrīptum, factum > fānum), strengthening formal plausibility.

5. Methodological Context

This reconstruction follows the symbolic-linguistic methodology articulated most explicitly by Petro Zheji (1960s–1990s), who argued that Indo-European lexicon contains relics of a pre-morphemic symbolic system consisting of monosyllabic semantic atoms (sy, va, ra, ka, etc.). Under this model:

  • Albanian is unusually conservative
  • Latin often preserves symbolic composites through partial phonological fossilization
  • IE reconstructed roots may overlay or obscure earlier symbolic strata

Thus, signum may represent the Indo-Europeanized reflex of a much older symbolic compositional system, not derivable strictly through PIE sound laws but accessible via comparative symbolic philology.

6. Summary Formula

Proto-symbolic root: SY ‘eye, seeing’
Object-marker: G
Composite: SY-G = “that which is seen / that which directs the gaze”
Latin reflex: sīgnŭm = ‘sign, emblem, mark’

Conclusion: The Albanian symbolic root sy/si provides a morpho-symbolic pathway more semantically continuous than the PIE sek-/sekʷ- derivations.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Word creation. The "D" letter origin and the "D" pictogram rule of the word creation.

  In this article I will cover  the origin of the letter  D letter, and the pictogram concept of the word creation.  It was my first discovery of the word creation. In this blog I will give my discoveries, the rules of word creation of the European languages. Multiple theories exist as to how language first originated. Nobody is sure which one is true. Certified Translations Get Pricing Order Translation What is the Oldest Language in the World? There are over 7,000 languages in the world. Could there have been a time on the earth that we all spoke one language? If so, what is the oldest language in the world?  So what was the first language?  Discovering the first language that people spoke is difficult because so many languages died and were considered lost in history. However, ancient languages still survive until today; these languages may have been transformed a lot but their old origins may be traceable. Written languages existed but this does n...
5 comments
Read more

Nephilim

N 'eh - Ph 'ih- L 'ee- M /  Nepheeleem Zacharia Sitchin (July 11, 1920 – October 9, 2010)  wrote the " Nephilim " (נְפִילִים) is derived from “nafàl" and means “fall". The term Nephilim occurs in Genesis 6:1-4, describing the point of time when three things began: men began to increase in number, came into existence the daughters of men , and the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. Is the "nephillim" really only a Hebrew word? That question is very subtle, however I think it has been more a limit of thinking for linguists rather than a serious argument. Let's begin first with the probable meaning the linguists think it is. We know that the " fall"  in every language means moving downward from a higher position involuntarily, usually by an accident, which maybe was the reason why Michael S. Heiser, PhD candidate, Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies , University of Wisconsin...
10 comments
Read more

Total positional tolerance at material condition

Total positional tolerance at material condition (Hole) Suppose the Ø 1.005 / 1.010 hole is inspected and there are six parts with different ID dimensions. Their actual sizes checked with run out methods give that their actual axis is to be .006” over and up from the true position even though they have different actual ID’s. We want to know which part is within true position tolerance at MMC. Parts to be acceptable require some calculation when is used the run out method.             In GD&T, maximum material condition (MMC) refers to a hole that contains the greatest amount of material.             To understand and memorize simply and logically the concept, I suppose that you have a part designed as a square with one hole in the center, Ø 1.005 / 1.010 . You have produced just 5 parts and measured their holes. The hole of part #1 is on the low side of its tolerance Ø 1.005" and the hole of part #5 is on high sid...
1 comment
Read more