Step 2: The nature of Linguistics and Language

Tutor: Viviana Andrea Ospina Giraldo

Estudent: Noel Eduardo Peñaranda Torrado

Code: 1007670350

Group: 18

Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia UNAD

Escuela de Ciencias de la Educación.

Licenciatura en lenguas extranjeras con énfasis en inglés

Course: Introduction to linguistics 518017

Ábrego, March 2020

 Step 2: The nature of Linguistics and Language

1. Read the following two documents “An Introduction to Linguistics and

Language Studies” pages 1-13, by McCabe A, and “Linguistics”; and also, read
the document ‘Linguistics’ by Bauer, Laurie. Pages 10-18, found in UNIT 1, in
the Knowledge Environment.

2. Based on the first document, do Exercise 1.4 in page 13. You have six phrases
and you have to identify them to whom the phrases might belong, “Attribute
each of the…phrases to Ferdinand de Saussure, Noam Chomsky, or Michael
Halliday. What motivates, in each case, your response according to the text?
What does the quote tell you about their perspective on the study and analysis
of language?”

 If we could cover the sum of images of words stored in the minds of all people, we
could identify the social link that constitutes language. It is a reservoir filled by
members of a given community through its active use of speech, a grammatical
system that has a potential existence in each brain or, specifically, in the brain of a
group of individuals. Because language is not complete in any speaker; it exists
perfectly only within a collective. "
This is part of Saussure's study and establishes a system of images and words, which
summarizes a system of signs which is divided into two parts, meaning and significant,
making it known that an individual does not have total control of language since it does not
know many words, they will be learned by listening to them in a community and thus they
will be remembered, so that individuals keep using grammatical tools that are "implanted"
in the human brain that give space for communicative actions among other people who
distinguish them from other types of species and promote social, which is of utmost
importance in daily life.

 ‘It seems clear that we must regard linguistic competence – knowledge of a

language – as an abstract system underlying behavior, a system constituted by rules
that interact to determine the form and intrinsic meaning of a potentially infinite
number of sentences.’
This phrase is from Chomsky, where he shows us that the performance and use that we give
to language is only the tip of the iceberg of this competition, he affirms that we have a
limited number of rules which with the help of syntax allow us to create infinite sentences
in sentences and that our mind is like a library that we can organize and combine the
linguistic elements and in the same process learn a new language.
  ‘Every text – that is, everything that is said or written – unfolds in some context of
use; furthermore, it is the uses of language that, over tens of thousands of
generations, have shaped the system. Language has evolved to satisfy human needs;
and the way it is organized is functional with respect to these needs.’
This phrase belongs to Halliday, since he devoted himself to developing descriptions of the
language and its functioning that formed the basis for systemic functional linguistics (SFL),
and that in his theory, the registry plays an important role, since it refers to linguistic
choices made in given situational contexts.

 ‘Linguistic theory is concerned primarily with an ideal speaker-hearer, in a

completely homogeneous speech community, who knows its language perfectly and
is unaffected by such grammatically irrelevant conditions as memory limitations,
distractions, shifts of attention and interest, errors (random or characteristic) in
applying his knowledge of the language in actual performance.’
This phrase belongs to Chomsky since he focused on the parts of the linguistic study, which
is applied in the errors and limitations, that are presented in the process of learning a
language, such as children who learn the language, he proposed They develop this notion of
rule-governed language simply from auditory language, language that is not always
presented to them in an ideal syntactically governed way

 ‘Language is a system of interdependent terms in which the value of each term

results only from the simultaneous presence of others ... [for example]. To
determine how much a five-franc piece is worth, one more knows: (1) that it can be
exchanged for a fixed amount of a different thing, p. bread; and (2) that can be
compared with a similar value of the same system, e.g. a piece of a franc, or with
coins of another system (a dollar, etc.). Similarly, a word can be exchanged for
something different, an idea; In addition, it can be compared with something of the
same nature, another word. Therefore, its value is not fixed as long as one simply
says that it can be "exchanged" for a given concept. "

This phrase belongs to Saussure, where he makes us know that whenever we say
something, we associate it with a word from the same context, in the same way, it can be
compared with another word from the same group or category.

 ‘Spoken and written language, then, tend to display different KINDS of complexity;
each of them is more complex in its own way. Written language tends to be
lexically dense but grammatically simple; spoken language tends to be
grammatically intricate but lexically sparse’ … ‘The value of having some explicit
 knowledge of the grammar of written language is that you can use this knowledge,
not only to analyze the texts, but as a critical resource for asking questions about
them.’
This phrase belongs to Halliday because he shows us that we use a register based on
linguistic choices, these choices provide a layer of meaning related to the relationship
between the people involved in the exchange of discourses, they will appropriately interpret
the situations through Lexico-grammatical choices, these have three types, the first is the
field, in which people are involved through experience, then we have the way, which is the
means by which we communicate, it can be written, spoken , by electronic means and other
types of methods, the last one is the tenor, this is based on the relationship of trust between
the interlocutors, which can be symmetrical, as between friends or couples, and
asymmetrical, which is a relationship like that of a teacher -student, boss-employee.

3. Based on the second text ‘Linguistics’ in “Bauer, Laurie; The Linguistic

Student's Handbook” Answer the following question: why is Linguistics
definitely considered a science? In your answer, involve the other language
areas such as semiotics, philology and literature.

Linguistics is a science, because it studies the writing of natural languages and the
knowledge of the speakers of them, it also has the scientific method, which is a process that
would lead the observation of natural languages and then concludes, it has its own
terminologies and classes.
Semiotics, also known as semiology or sign theory, is the study of how to use signs to
create and transmit meanings and meanings while communicating.
Philology is the science of languages or a specific language, its history and grammar,
although not only this, philology also studies the literature of a people and through this
study it is intended to know the culture of the same.
Literature is an artistic manifestation based on the use of the word and written language as
well as oral, it is also the theory that studies literary works.

4. In the following two questions you have to consult and then explain:

4.1 The concept of ‘double articulation’ is a classic one at identifying language,

please, explain it, and give examples.
the double articulation is a characteristic common to all languages due to all linguistic
signs, it is articulated at two levels, that of the meanings and that of the signifiers, this
consists in the decomposition into minimal units with meaning (monemas) and without
signifier (phonemes ) and these refer to the way in which language is organized.
Examples:
Monemas:
car
moto-rist
moto-rists

phonemes
cat
dog

4.2 Human language is different from other semiotic systems, explain at least
three characteristics, that according to Linguistics, are unique to human
language (give references).

there is a trait of the utmost importance that only human language possesses, and it is the
ability to understand and produce an infinite number of statements, this is the possibility in
different ways, Chomsky calls it "Creativity" while other people call it "Openness" or
"Productivity"
displacement, the ability to refer to events that are not in space or current movements, this
is essential for study and technical progress.
semanticity or arbitrariness, the quality allows the human being to use symbols to signify or
refer to objects and actions.
and like these there are many other cases that are exclusive to the human being.
 individual link https://www.flipsnack.com/EnglishIITask5/step-2-
the-nature-of-linguistics-and-language.html

https://www.flipsnack.com/CFC66CF6AED/step-
group link 2-the-nature-of-linguistics-and-language-group-
18-fu3fv5s3x.html

Referencias
Aparco, C. (11 de mayo de 2015). DOBLE ARTICULACIÓN DEL SIGNO LINGÜÍSTICO.
Obtenido de https://prezi.com/pvqvomu1kgoj/doble-articulacion-del-signo-
linguistico/
Bauer, L. (2007). The Linguistic Student's Handbook. Obtenido de
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.bibliotecavirtual.unad.edu.co/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/b
mxlYmtfXzE5NDE1NV9fQU41?sid=0766296b-b34a-4172-9f55-
27f96d3c9434@sessionmgr101&vid=1&format=EB&rid=1
McCabe, A. (2011). An Introduction to Linguistics and Language Studies. Obtenido de
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.bibliotecavirtual.unad.edu.co/eds/detail/detail?
vid=0&sid=6b30e200-c9e1-4a4d-b893-
21293be0b434%40sessionmgr102&bdata=Jmxhbmc9ZXMmc2l0ZT1lZHMtbGl2Z
SZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=nlebk&AN=547849
Sosa, J. (9 de Mayo de 2017). Lenguaje Humano. Obtenido de
https://es.slideshare.net/johnissosa/lenguaje-humano-75829664