Abstract

Despite the extensive body of literature on schizophrenic language and the various theories proposed to elucidate it, the phenomenon remains enigmatic and inscrutable. The present article provides a semiotic perspective on schizophasia, aiming to contribute to the resolution of this enigma. Based on Umberto Eco’s concept of Encyclopedia (Eco 1984) the paper offers a comprehensive description of the principal disturbances of schizophrenic language. Subsequently, a proposal is put forth to elucidate how the idiosyncratic modes of meaning construction in schizophrenia depend on the loss of the intersubjective and intercorporeal dimensions of common sense (Stanghellini 2008), which is reflected in the forsaking of norms and usages that rule every form of linguistic enunciation (Paolucci 2020).