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LINGUISTICS
Linguistics always trying to answer the really basic questions about language: What is language? How does language work? What do all languages have in common? Why do languages change? How do we learn to speak?
Sir William Jones in 1786Delivered a paper demonstrating structural similarities of ancient Indian language Sanskrit and Greek, Celtic, Latin and Germanic. Comparative linguistics became the dominant branch.
It is the combined influence of Saussure and Chomsky that the study of language has become increasingly important.
SAUSSURE (1857-1913)
Swiss linguist. Studied IndoEuropean languages His most famous book, Course in General Linguistics, was actually put together after his death by former students based on lecture notes from his courses.
American Linguist Credited with being the father of modern linguistics. Dominates contemporary linguistics. His first important volume, Syntactic Structures, published in 1957. Constantly challenged the linguistic enquiry and even own work.
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Sign The way in which meaning is communicated, symbolically. Language is made up of signs and every sign has two sides (like a coin or a sheet of paper, both sides of which are inseparable) The signifier Signifier is the image. The "shape" of a word, its phonic component, i.e. the sequence of graphemes (letters), e.g., <"c">-<"a">-<"t">, or phonemes (speech sounds), e.g. /kt/. The signified Signified is the concept behind the image. The ideational component, the concept or object that appears in our minds when we hear or read the signifier e.g. a small domesticated feline (a mental concept).
EXAMPLE:
Substance
All distinct sounds communicate. and scripts produced to
Form
The organization of language
Example:
ROCK- PAPER- SCISSORS
Langue
The system of a language exists in a speech community, in the collectivity; it is shared by all the speakers of that speech community
Parole
An individuals use of the system of langue
EXAMPLE:
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It is stable and institutionalised. It is passive. It is general for the community. It is an abstraction. It is a collective instrument. It is a set of conventions and habits handed down to next generation readymade. It is language as a speaker is expected to use. It is fixed. It is a potential form of language.
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It is mobile and personal. It is active. It is individual. It is concrete manifestation. It is not a collective instrument. It is diverse and multicoloured. It is language in actual use. It is free. It is an actualised form of language.
Synchrony
Studying a language as a complete system at a particular point of time
Diachrony
Studying a language at two different points of time; relating two different stages of a language
EXAMPLE:
Competence
Persons intuitive knowledge of the rules and structure of his language as a native speaker
Performance
Actual use of these rules and structure
COMPETANCE
PERFORMANCE
Knowledge possessed by native users of a language which enables them to speak and understand their language fluently This knowledge is internalized within speaker Something they are not necessarily aware of possessing
The practical execution of those abilities in terms of actual speaking and writing
EXAMPLE:
Syntagmatic relations
The sequential characteristics of language. Syntagmatic relations are relations on an horizontal axis between elements, in a sentence.
Paradigmatic relations
The substitutional relationship which a linguistic unit has with other units. Paradigmatic relations are relations on an vertical level and look at all the possible elements that could come at the place of a certain element.
EXAMPLE: