The distinction between 'langue' and 'parole', familiar in linguistics, may be helpful in clarifying the point that two different approaches to calendar studies, both of which have engaged my attention, are essentially complementary. The more familiar functional approach is comparable with 'parole', the language as spoken at a particular place and time by a particular community, while the semiotic approach which looks at the total design of a specific calendar structure is comparable to 'langue', the internal structuring of a language. The semiotic approach adds a new dimension to the study of the period of chaos before the start of a year and offers a fresh interpretation of the Twelve Days of Christmas.
[Checked with author. No typescript. Probably based on:
Emily Lyle (1984) The Dark Days and the Light Month
Folklore, 1984, Vol.95, pp.221-223]