week 5 ling theories 0

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Introduction To

Linguistics

Week 5

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THEORIES

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Ferdinand de Saussure

(1857–1913)

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Ferdinand de saussure

 The father of modern linguisticsThe father of modern linguistics

 Saussure's most influential work, Saussure's most influential work, Course in Course in

General Linguistics

General Linguistics ( (Cours de linguistique _{Cours de linguistique}

générale

générale), was published posthumously in ), was published posthumously in 1916 by former students Charles Bally and

1916 by former students Charles Bally and

Albert Sechehaye on the basis of notes

taken from Saussure's lectures at the

University of Geneva.

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Langue and parole

in his book in his book Cours de linguistique _{Cours de linguistique}

generale,

generale, Saussure proposed the terms Saussure proposed the terms langage

langage, , languelangue and and paroleparole..

langage: language in general

langue

langue : a particular language : a particular language parole

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langue

• The system of language, that is the The system of language, that is the

arrangement of sounds and words

which speakers of a language have a

shared language of or ‘agree to use’

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parole

The actual use of language by people

in speech or writing

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Diachronic

vs.

_vs.

synchronic

_synchronic

view of

_{view of}

linguistics

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Diachronic view

 Diachronic linguistics views the historical Diachronic linguistics views the historical

development of a language.

 We can go back and forth in time, We can go back and forth in time,

watching the language with all its features

change.

 E.g. the change in sound system of English E.g. the change in sound system of English

from old English to modern English

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Synchronic view

 Synchronic linguistics views a particular Synchronic linguistics views a particular

state of a language at some given point in

time.

 This could mean This could mean Modern EnglishModern English of the of the

present day, or the systematic analysis of

the system of Shakespeare's English.

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structuralism

 Modern linguistics, following Modern linguistics, following Ferdinand de Ferdinand de

Saussure

Saussure, is primarily interested in the , is primarily interested in the synchronicsynchronic point of view.

point of view.

 Saussure postulated the priority of synchrony: no Saussure postulated the priority of synchrony: no

knowledge of the historical development of a

language is necessary to examine its present

system.

 He arrived at this radical viewpoint due to his He arrived at this radical viewpoint due to his

conviction that linguistic research must

concentrate on the

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Theory of signs (semiotics)

In linguistics, the sign has ‘two faces’

which cannot be separated

• ‘‘signifie’ signifie’ __ thing meant thing meant

• ‘‘signifiant’ or ‘signifier’ signifiant’ or ‘signifier’ __ the the

accoustic image

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Descriptive vs prescriptive

- how the laNguage shoud be

 DescriptiveDescriptive

- acc. To Saussure, linguists’ job is to

describe, not to prescribe

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Paradigmatic vs. syntagmatic

 ParadigmaticParadigmatic

any link in chain of speech will any link in chain of speech will

suggest any other language units to

us, because the units either resemble

or differ from each other in form and

meaning.

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 Remind us of other words that have Remind us of other words that have ––

ing

ing ending: ending: working, eating, talking, _{working, eating, talking,}

etc

 Other compounds of teach: Other compounds of teach: teacher, teacher,

taught, teaches

 Other words with similar meaning Other words with similar meaning

and form:

and form: tutor, mentor, lecturertutor, mentor, lecturer

 Words different in both form and Words different in both form and

meaning:

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syntagmatic

Syntagmatic relation holds between

the successive members of a given

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Noam Chomsky

 in the past received various death in the past received various death

threats because of his criticisms of

U.S foreign policy.

 stated that he continues to reside in stated that he continues to reside in

the United States because he

believes it remains the "greatest

country in the world,"

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Syntactic structures

 The theory takes utterances (sequences of The theory takes utterances (sequences of

words) to have a syntax which can be

(largely) characterised by a formal

grammar; in particular, a Context-free

grammar extended with transformational

rules.

 A phrase/sentence has its internal A phrase/sentence has its internal

structure

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 Children are hypothesised to have an Children are hypothesised to have an

innate knowledge of the basic

grammatical structure common to all

human languages (i.e. they assume

that any language which they

encounter is of a certain restricted

kind).

 This innate knowledge is often This innate knowledge is often

referred to as universal grammar.

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Generative grammar

 The Chomskyan approach towards syntax The Chomskyan approach towards syntax

is often termed

is often termed generative grammargenerative grammar

 Chomskyan syntactic analyses are often Chomskyan syntactic analyses are often

highly abstract, and are based heavily on

careful investigation of the border

between grammatical and ungrammatical

constructs in a language.

 Such grammatical judgments can only be Such grammatical judgments can only be

made accurately by a native speaker,