LECTURE # 1 FOUNDATIONS OF LINGUSITICS

THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE

1.Language is a symbol system based on pure or arbitrary conventions… infinitely extendable
and modifiable according to the changing needs and conditions of the speakers. (Robins,
1985)
Every language (that exists in the written form) selects some symbols for its selected sounds
2. Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method of communicating ideas, emotions,
and desires by means of a system of voluntarily produced symbols. (Sapir, 1921)
human and non-instinctive. Language, as Sapir rightly said, is human. Only humans possess
language (species-specific) and all normal humans uniformly possess it (species-uniform)
3. Language is the institution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by
means of habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary symbols. (Hall, 1969)
A speaker produces some string of oral sounds, through his hearing organs, receives the sound
waves and conveys these to the brain that interprets these symbols to arrive at a meaning.
4. A language is a set (finite or infinite) of sentences, each finite in length and constructed out
of a finite set of elements. (Noam Chomsky, 1957)
meant to convey that each sentence has a structure. Human brain is competent enough to
construct different sentences from out of the limited set of sounds/symbols belonging to a
particular language
5. A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication.
(Wardaugh, 1972)
6. A language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols by means of which a social group
cooperates. (Bloch and Trager, 1942)
prominently point out that language is a system, Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties is
acceptable but one cannot accept a string of words like: a game is of cricket uncertainties
glorious. It is in this sense that language is said to be a system of systems.
7. Language is undoubtedly a kind of means of communication among human beings. It
consists primarily of vocal sounds. It is articulatory, systematic, symbolic, and arbitrary.
(Derbyshire, 1967)
language is the property of human beings and that it is primarily speech, brings out the point
that it is an important means of communication amongst humans
Language is a fully developed means of communication.
8. Language is a system of conventional spoken or written symbols by means of which human
beings, as members of a social group and participants in its culture, communicate.
(Encyclopaedia Britannica)
9. Languages are the principal systems of communication used by particular groups of human
beings within the particular society (linguistic community) of which they are members.
(Lyons, 1970)
Language is a means of communicating the culture of a particular community or members of
society.
A particular expression could be acceptable to a specific community of people but not to others
whose practices are formed from different orientations.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE

1. Organization of Words and Sounds: Language is an organization of words and

sounds. They are organized in such a way that some meaningful message may be
conveyed easily. There is no language without words and sounds.

2. Means of Communication: Language is the only and permanent means of

communication. Language is the best way of self-expression. Human beings
express themselves by using language. Through it, they transfer their knowledge
and experience from one person to another and from one generation to another.

3. A Social Phenomenon: Language is a social phenomenon. It is a possession of

society. It permits its members to interact with one another. It is a social institution
in itself. A man, as a member of society, interacts through language.

4. Conventional & Non-Instinctive: Language is conventional and non-instinctive.

Language does not come into being in a day. It is a gift of evolution and convention.
It is non-instinctive because human begins acquire it. Nobody gets a language in
heritage. He acquires it.

5. A System of Symbols: Language is a system of symbols. Every language has its own
symbols. Language is a system of arbitrary symbols. Language uses words
essentially as symbols for the concepts represented by them.
6. Arbitrariness of Language: Arbitrariness of language is another characteristic of
language. It means that there is no inherent or logic relation or similarity between
any given feature of language and its meaning.

7. Productivity: Language provides opportunities to send the message that has never
been sent before and to understand novel messages. It also suggests that number
of sentences in language is limitless. Any speaker can construct a sentence that has
never been constructed before. It is this feature of language that is referred to as
productivity or creativity of language.

8. Flexibility: Language is flexible to an extent that is can be changed according to

requirements. It is not still and static. It keeps changing with the passage of time
and according to needs of society.

9. Structurally Complex: Human language has a great structural complexity. A human

language consists of sentences, which display complexity of structure at least of
two levels-sounds and words. There is a complex grammatical structure to English
or to any other language. Such structural complexity is not found in any animal
communication system.

10. Displacement: This is the ability to use language to talk about times, places, and
people other than the ‘here and now’. It also enables us to say things, which we
know to be false—i.e., to lie. Bees are said to be able to convey some of this
information in their ‘dance’, which they employ to pass on information about food
sources.

11. Cultural Transmission: This refers to how languages are acquired by our children.
The assumption is that there is no genetic component (although Noam Chomsky
challenges this with his theory of Universal Grammar) which would enable a child
to simply start speaking—e.g., English at a certain age, but rather that children
need to be exposed to a language (and culture) in order to acquire it.

12. Duality: Duality (or ‘double articulation’) refers to two separate layers of language
working together to provide us with a pool of sounds, which we can combine to
communicate with one another. On the one hand, we have a limited number of
discrete sounds (e.g., the 44 phonemes in English) which in isolation have no
inherent meaning, e.g., b, n, or l. On the other hand, we have a virtually unlimited
number of distinct meanings, which we can create by combining these sounds in
certain ways, e.g., bin or nib. Various other combinations such as ‘bni’ are not
meaningful in English, but could possibly be in other languages.
 THE NATURE OF LINGUISTICS
Linguistics (a.k.a. language science) is the scientific study of human language. It came from
the Latin word “lingua” meaning tongue. It deals with the principles and theoretical bases on
the sound, structure, and sense of human language. Basically, all languages in the world are
based on similar principles.
polyglot (i.e., someone who knows many languages)

Linguistics According to Scholars/Experts:

a. Linguistics makes inductive, objective and systematic study of language. Linguistics studies
the origin, organization, nature and development of language descriptively, historically,
comparatively, and explicitly, and it formulates the general rules related to language.
(Professor Mackillam)
b. Linguistics observes language in action as a means for determining how language has
developed, how it functions today, and how it is currently evolving. (G. Duffy)
c. Linguistics is concerned with the nature of human language, how it is learned, and what
part it plays in the life of the individual and the community. (S. Pit Corder)

The following points will be helpful in understanding the nature of linguistics:

i. An Academic Discipline: Linguistics is a body of knowledge given to or received by
a disciple. It is a branch or sphere of knowledge, or field of study, that an individual
has chosen to specialize in. ii. iii. IV.
ii. A Field of Science: Linguistics is a widely recognized category of specialized
expertise within science, embodying its own terminology, nomenclature, and
scientific journals.
iii. A Social Science: Linguistics is a field of academic scholarship that explores aspects
of human societies related to the languages they speak.
 THE BRANCHES/CLASSIFICATIONS OF LINGUISTICS
Micro linguistics
It is also known as theoretical linguistics or general linguistics. It is the linguistic branch that
studies the nature of language—that is, what a language is, what it comprises of, and how it
works. It focuses on the structural components of language under the broad level of grammar,
which is divided into few structures or levels such as phonetics, morphology, and semantics.

Sound Unit of Language

Phonology
studies the systems of sounds within a language or between different languages. It is
primarily concerned with the systematic organization of sounds especially in spoken
languages. It studies the patterns of sounds in a language, how speech sounds are organized,
and how they are used to convey meaning.
Phonetics
studies the physical properties of sounds—i.e., how sounds are produced and articulated
through the interaction of different vocal organs. Because phonetics deals with the sound
properties regardless of language, the International Phonetic Alphabet is its basis, providing a
unique but generalized symbol for every sound or phoneme.

Structure Unit of Language

Morphology
focuses on the study of morphemes/words—the smallest meaningful unit of a language that
is indivisible. It describes how words are formed and demonstrates how word formation
processes affect the meaning of words and their pronunciation.
Syntax
focuses on the arrangement of words, phrases, and clauses that form a sentence. It explains
why sentences are structured in a way, how it can infinitely produce different forms, and how
each word relates with one another and in the sentence. It sets the rules and principles that
govern the order of words and structure of sentences.
Sense Unit of Language
Semantics
deals with the study of conceptual meaning of words and sentences. It studies language
meaning in terms of words-sentence relationship whether in the lexical or compositional
level.
Pragmatics
studies the contextual meaning of words and sentences. It focuses on meaning beyond the
literal level—i.e., the intended meaning of speaker. It analyzes implied meanings or what
people actually mean when they make use of language.

Macro linguistics
It views language from a broader perspective. It is concerned with the process of language
acquisition or usage and its relation to the society as a whole. Hence, it focuses on the
application of language in daily life.
Sociolinguistics
deals with the study of the effects of the different social and cultural factors on the use of
language. It examines the patterns and variation in language within a society or community. It
analyzes how people or a certain group of people make choices in terms of language style or the
way they use language to express their personal and social identity.
Psycholinguistics
focuses on the interrelation between linguistic and psychological factors that enable humans to
understand, acquire, and use language. Thus, it is primarily concerned with the processes
related to word cognition and learning in particular and language acquisition in general.
Computational Linguistics
studies the application of computer science in the analysis of language and speech and other
linguistic studies. It concerns with how computational modeling and approaches can be used to
describe linguistic processes and analyze research data related to linguistic issues and problems.
Historical Linguistics
deals with the study of language change or change of a group of languages over time, including
phonological, grammatical, and semantic changes. It is concerned with tracing the history of
language family and identifying how a particular language develops into its present form.
Comparative Linguistics
concerns with comparing languages to establish their similarities and differences especially in
determining whether or not they have a common ancestral language.
Structural Linguistics
focuses on the study of language as an independent network of formal systems or structures. It
is based on theories and principles that language is composed of structural units such as lexical
and syntactic elements.
Biolinguistics
aims to explain the evolution and formation of language through biology, linguistics, psychology,
and neurolinguistics.
Applied Linguistics
attempts to make practical use of the knowledge derived from general linguistic research—in
order, for example, to:
• Improve the ways in which a student’s native language is taught
• Help people learn foreign language more efficiently • Write better dictionaries • Improve
therapy for people with language problems
• Search the Internet more efficiently and successfully
Clinical Linguistics
focuses on the application of linguistics in the field of speech and language pathology. It
involves the description, analysis, and treatment of language disabilities and disorders.
Developmental Linguistics
studies the development of the linguistic ability of an individual especially children. It focuses on
how children acquire language in childhood, such as acquisition of syntax and other linguistic
elements.
Linguistic Typology
aims to classify languages based on their structural and functional components. It focuses on
describing the diversity of the languages in the world especially in terms of their properties and
structures.
Neurolinguistics
studies the relationship between language and the structures and functions of the brain. It aims
to analyze the different brain functions and mechanisms that are related to language
comprehension, production, and acquisition.
Stylistics
deals with the study on how different individuals or social groups use language in all types or
forms, spoken or written, in their communication. It is also known as literary linguistics because
it studies different authors and writers especially on their writing styles.
Etymology
investigates the origins of words, their birth, and their development, often delineating their
spread from one language to another and their evolving changes in form and meaning

APPROACHES OF LINGUISTICS
Descriptive and Prescriptive (Applied Approach)
The descriptive approach is a linguistic distinction that describes and analyzes language
according to how people verbally use it.
the prescriptive approach lays down the standard or “correct” way of the structural
arrangement of the words in the sentence.

Synchronic and Diachronic (Historical Approach)

Synchronic and diachronic are words with Latin origins, where synchronic means synchronous
and diachronic means through time. Thus, when language is studied at a particular time or a
certain time in history, it is considered synchronic. On the other hand, diachronic focuses on
language development through time.

Langue and Parole (Social Approach)

Langue and Parole. Langue means language—that is, all the rules and conventions regarding
the combinations of sounds, formation of words and sentences, pronunciation and meaning.
Parole, belongs to the individual. When those conventions that exist in the mind as langue are
used in a concrete form through actual speech or writing,

A useful comparison between langue and parole is made by the analogy of a chess game. In
the game, the rules are determined and they are understood by all players. However, each
game is different and depends on the individual performances which differ from player to
player. Saussure (1916) considered the following points on langue and parole

1) Langue is considered the legislative side of language or the law of language. Like law,
langue maintains the social order and homogeneity of the language, and is relatively fixed—
i.e., it does not change with each individual. PAROLE is the executive side of the language
because it uses the law or code of the language (i.e., langue) for its individual ends. It
executes langue through individual acts of speaking and writing.
2) We can only study langue, not parole. Langue is a well-defined and homogenous object
governed by rules agreed by all. Parole or individual acts of speaking/writing cannot be
accurately represented. Hence, only langue and not parole is the fit object for study.

Language Performance and Language Competence (Personal Approach)

The dichotomy of language competence and performance is in relation to langue and parole.
First, the former is proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure whereas the latter is defined and
explored by Noam Chomsky. Second, according to Chomsky, competence is the speaker’s
knowledge of the grammatical rules of language and performance is the actual use/skill of
language and application of grammatical rules. Therefore, once the speakers are
knowledgeable of the syntax and sounds, their competence is stable.

Etic and Emic (Cultural Approach)

The concepts of Etic and Emic concern the approaches to language study across cultures. ETIC
refers to research that studies cross-cultural differences, whereas EMIC refers to research that
fully studies one culture with no (or only a secondary) cross-cultural focus. Etic research seeks
to define common phenomena across cultures which can be used to define a set of universal
phenomena among all cultures, whereas emic research lacks this aspect.
Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic (Structural Approach—Form, Use, and Meaning)
Syntagmatic relation describes the dimensions of language based on the order of phones such
as /p/, /e/, and /n/ or the linear order of morphemes like in the word impossibility as im-
possible-ity. It also looks at the sequence of words that people are using such as the sentence:
“I am here.” In this example, it is a subject-verb-adverb combination.
paradigmatic relation describes the relationship of linguistic elements/meaning of an
utterance. An example is the sentence “I am here” that is viewed as not a set of words or
grammatical unit but a meaningful utterance specifying the speakers as “I” who is at a certain
location “here.” Thus, syntagmatic relation involves phonetics, morphology, and syntax whilst
paradigmatic involves semantics and pragmatics.