@article{ART003313416},
author={LEE, HANJUNG},
title={Apology and the Healing Power of Language - Toward a Resonance-Based Model of Semantic Change -},
journal={Journal of Humanities},
issn={1598-8457},
year={2026},
number={100},
pages={7-66}
TY - JOUR
AU - LEE, HANJUNG
TI - Apology and the Healing Power of Language - Toward a Resonance-Based Model of Semantic Change -
JO - Journal of Humanities
PY - 2026
VL - null
IS - 100
PB - Institute for Humanities
SP - 7
EP - 66
SN - 1598-8457
AB - This paper examines how apologies function as linguistic acts that can bring about psychological and relational change, rather than merely expressing regret or fulfilling social conventions. While previous pragmatic studies have focused primarily on apology strategies and discourse functions, this study addresses the lack of a theoretical framework explaining how apologies transform the emotional and value-based meaning networks of recipients. To this end, the paper integrates Lazare’s psychological theory of apology with Beaver and Stanley’s resonance-based semantics, proposing a resonance-based model of semantic change centered on the notions of resonance, attunement, and harmonization. The model formalizes how an apologetic utterance alters the activation probabilities of value-laden features, leading to attunement updates at the individual level and long-term restructuring of presuppositional resonance at the community level. Applying the model to analyses of both successful apologies and pseudo-apologies characterized by responsibility deferral and self-pity, the study demonstrates that the success or failure of apology is determined not by surface form or rhetorical strategy, but by differences in resonance structure. By offering a new definition and analysis of apology, this paper presents the first integrated account combining linguistic, psychological, and formal modeling approaches to explain the healing power of language, and proposes a framework extendable to experimental studies.
KW - Apology;Resonance-based Semantics;the Healing Power of Language;Attunement;Harmonization;Presupposition;Resonance;Semantic Activation;Semantic Change
DO -
UR -
ER -
LEE, HANJUNG. (2026). Apology and the Healing Power of Language - Toward a Resonance-Based Model of Semantic Change -. Journal of Humanities, 100, 7-66.
LEE, HANJUNG. 2026, "Apology and the Healing Power of Language - Toward a Resonance-Based Model of Semantic Change -", Journal of Humanities, no.100, pp.7-66.
LEE, HANJUNG "Apology and the Healing Power of Language - Toward a Resonance-Based Model of Semantic Change -" Journal of Humanities 100 pp.7-66 (2026) : 7.
LEE, HANJUNG. Apology and the Healing Power of Language - Toward a Resonance-Based Model of Semantic Change -. 2026; 100 : 7-66.
LEE, HANJUNG. "Apology and the Healing Power of Language - Toward a Resonance-Based Model of Semantic Change -" Journal of Humanities no.100(2026) : 7-66.
LEE, HANJUNG. Apology and the Healing Power of Language - Toward a Resonance-Based Model of Semantic Change -. Journal of Humanities, 100, 7-66.
LEE, HANJUNG. Apology and the Healing Power of Language - Toward a Resonance-Based Model of Semantic Change -. Journal of Humanities. 2026; 100 7-66.
LEE, HANJUNG. Apology and the Healing Power of Language - Toward a Resonance-Based Model of Semantic Change -. 2026; 100 : 7-66.
LEE, HANJUNG. "Apology and the Healing Power of Language - Toward a Resonance-Based Model of Semantic Change -" Journal of Humanities no.100(2026) : 7-66.
