Introduction to language synopsis

De Saussures linguistic theories

Ferdinand de Saussure conceptualized language as a system of differences. Each element of a language,

according to de Saussure, is defined by its difference from other elements within the same language. For
example, the primary manner of recognizing the letter A is through recognizing its difference from all the
other letters in the same alphabet. Language, according to de Saussure is a system of signs, and each sign,
then, can be understood as a combination of a form (which is the signifier) and a particular meaning
(which is the signified). The relationship which occurs between the signified and the signifier, then, is
based upon an agreed on convention, rather than some sort of natural resemblance. For example, I am
writing this piece on de Saussures theories of linguistics on what is called a computer, but which might as
easily have been called a car. It is only because of an agreed upon convention of language that I call this
object a computer. You understood just what I mean when I offer the word computer to you. A language,
then, according to de Saussure can be best understood as a system of signs that organizes the world and
renders it comprehensible to us. Different languages, however, divide the world in different ways.
Langue is the whole system of language that makes the speech possible, it is the basic unit of language,
(learning language, mastering the grammar, syntax spelling, and punctuation are all elements of a
langue).
Parole is the concrete use of the language, it is the external manifestation of language, it is the usage of
the system, but not the system.

De Saussure was interested in langue more than parole because it was the system by which the
meaning is created
Signifier is the pointing finger, the word, the sound image, a word is just a jumble of letters, the
pointing finger is not the star, it is the interpretation of the signifier that the meaning is created.
Signified is the concept, the meaning, the thing indicated to the signifier that gives it the meaning, it
does not need to be a real object, but is some referent to which the signifier refers.
The signifier is more stable, the signified varies between people and contexts.
The relation between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary.
Synchronic analysis is the study of language at a given point of time.
Diachronic analysis is the study of the linguistic system through time.

Chomskys theory of language

Chomsky says that normal children everywhere are born with a kind of hard-wired syntax that enables them
to grasp the basic workings of language. The child then chooses the particular grammar and language of the
environment from the available options in the brain.

 Competence is the knowledge you (subconsciously) possess about how to speak a language.

Performance is your real world linguistic output. Performance may accurately reflect competence, but
it may also include speech errors due to slips of the tongue or, as Chomsky points out in the quote
above, external factors such as memory problems, etc.

As a proficient speaker, it is not that you dont know that the past tense of swim is swam, you have just
mistakenly applied the regular rule to an irregular verb. You are unlikely to make this kind of error more
than a small portion of time, and may never say swimmed again. Your competence is fine - you know how
to conjugate irregular English verbs, it is your performance that has let you down.

Functions of language

The general function of language: is the way we express our ideas and exchange opinions with each

other. This use of language is called referential.

Emotional expression function: this use of language is related to the emotions. We use it to get rid of

our nervous emotions

Interactional function: we use this kind of language to keep good rapports and relationships between

each other, also, to strengthen the bond among people. For example saying happy birthday, have a
nice day etc.
The power of sound: this function of language is related to the repetitive rhythm. It helps people to get

close to each other.

The control of reality: it is used to control some forces that some believers think that they are

controlled with. It is the use of magic against supernatural things.

Recording facts: is used to record facts and events that happen in order to keep them for the coming

generation.
The instrument of thought: is used when people start performing a mathematical calculation in the

mind.
The expression of identity: is used to show the sense of identity by belonging to a group of people.

Properties of language
Displacement: is the act of referring to objects or events that are remote in time or space and does
not have to be present or even exist. It can be used to express ones ideas and feelings, and to
exercise ones influence on the other people.
Arbitrary: human language is arbitrary in the sense that there is no natural relation between the
objects and the name that are given to it.
Discreteness: it involves the use of specific signals and numbers of situations, it consists recurring
units, sounds, words and sentences of a language.

 Productivity: it allows new signals to be produced. Productivity makes it possible to create and
understand new forms which have not been produced before, which implies that human language is
unpredictable and spontaneous.
Duality: human language is associated with two levels: a physical level and interpretive level.

Origins of language
1. Divine source of language:
It is believed by different religions that language is created by god, according to many religious beliefs
and traditions all over the world, language has divine origins. For example, for Muslims, Allah provided
Adam with the ability to name things. For Hindus, the human faculty of language is a gift from the
goddess Sarasvati
2. Natural sounds sources:
A. Bow/wow is originated from the imitation of sounds that human beings heard around them in
early ages such as splach, they use sounds to refer to the subjects, for example when a bird
makes the sound coco, they would call it coco
B. Pooh-pooh: humans first words were derived from spontaneous expressions of anger, dislike,
hunger, joyetc.

C. Yo heave ho: originated from the grunts of people involved in a physical effort; like carrying a
tree or mammoth.
3. Oral- gesture source:
This theory goes further back in time when people used physical gestures to communicate their ideas.
It is thought that over time they started to use not only their hands, but also movements of mouth, lips
and tongue which subsequently developed into speech as we know it.

Sociolinguistic
Sociolinguistic is the study of the relation between language and society, it is the descriptive study of
the effects on many aspects of society including cultural norms, expectations and context; the way
language is used, and how does language affects on the society.

Language varieties
A pidgin: is nobodys native language, it is when two speakers of different language, with no
common language try to hold conversation; it is developed between people whose mother language
is different, in order to facilitate communication between them
A Creole: is a variety of language that developed from a pidgin and which is used as a first language
by a population of native speakers
Inter-language: is a leaner of L2 who has not become fully proficient yet, but is approximating the
target language by preserving some features of first language, making some overgeneralizations
and some mistakes.
Standard language: is a variety of language which forms the basis of the (English for ex) in news
papers, books and which is used in the mass media, and which is also thought in schools.
Dialect VS accent: A dialect is a version of a language that is special to a particular region or group.
Dialects of the same language are different from each other, but still understandable to speakers of
another dialect of that language. For example, American English and British English are two dialects
of English. They have some differences, such as in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar, but they
are still understandable to each other. On the other hand, accent refers to the sounds that are
present in a persons language. Pronunciation is basically a synonym of accent. Therefore, if I
pronounce differently from someone, I have a different accent.

 Regional dialect: is a variety of language in terms of geographical boundaries.

Bilingualism: means that there are two official languages in a country. For example, Canada has
English as a first language and French as a second language.
Register: is a variety of language that is spoken by people who have the same job, same interests/
or the range of vocabulary, grammar, used by speakers in particular social circumstances or
professional contexts.
Style: is a manner of writing that is characteristic of a particular writer, historical period or type of
literature.
Diglossia: refers to a person who speaks two dialects of the same language and switch between
them based on social situation.
Isoglosses: is a line across the map, that is separating areas, this line is called isogloss, and
represents the boundary between the areas which regard to that particular linguistic item.
An idiolect: is an individuals own personal language. Some people have a varied vocabulary. Some
people are very repetitive. Some people are long winded. Some are straight to the point.
Language planning: is the governments deliberate effort to change a language or its functions. It
has five steps; 1-selection stage (which language..). 2- Codifications (creating dictionaries). 3Elaborating (use of the language in everydays situations). 4- Implementation (the governments
encouragement of the language). 5- Acceptance.

The scientific characteristics of linguistics are:

1) Explicitness
2) Systematicness
3) Objectivity

The term: first language acquisition

This term refers to childrens natural acquisition of the languages they hear from birth. It is
distinguished from second language acquisition, which begins later, and from foreign language
learning, which typically involves formal instructions.
It is the first basic requirement for language acquisition. If we take a child born of Moroccan parents
and put him in another social environment, such as Italy for example, he will speak the language
spoken there (e.i. Italian) not Moroccan Arabic. This is called; cultural transmission, not genetic
transmission. If the child was not exposed to a human language, the language faculty (that is the
ability to acquire language); with which he is born, cannot be activated.
Physical fitness:
There is no output if language faculty was not activated. This leads us to say that language
acquisition requires both the auditory and the acoustic input
The critical age:
The critical age, called also puberty, occurs in the area where language is developing. Language
acquisition has to be activated before this age. If the language is not activated on time that is
before this age; language acquisition will certainly fail.

Stages of language acquisition:

1. Pre-linguistic period:
A- Cooing
During their first moth, children cry many times in a day. These cries are accompanied by
producing some sounds.

B- Babbling
Babies all over the world produce the same sounds and they may produce sounds that are
never used in their environment. Babbling is an internal behavior, not a response to external
stimulation. Children around the sixth to the ninth month begin to differentiate between the
sounds and select the sounds that exist in their environment.

2. The linguistic period:

A. The holophrastic stage:
After one year. Children have learnt that sounds are related to meanings; they begin to go through the
one-word which is considered for them as one-utterance. The words in this stage serve three major
functions. First, they are linked with a childs own action or desire for action. Second, they are used to
convey emotions. Third, they serve a naming function.

B. The two-word utterances:

Babies begin to produce two-word utterances which can show different combination of word order. In
this stage, the words lack morphological and syntactic markers, but we can notice that there is a word
order.
C. Telegraphic stage:
At this stage, the word forms are beginning to vary; inflectional morphemes begin to appear in addition to
the use of simple prepositions. The childs pronunciation is closer to the adults one.

3. Morphology:
Some inflectional morphemes will appear, indicating functions of the nouns and verbs. This child is going to use
all the verbs he knows is ing form, in the same way, all nouns with plural. This is referred to as the process of
Generalization.
For the past inflection, the child is going to use for example, the verb go with (ed) and say goed. By the time
the baby learns further rules, he is going to over generalize them.

4. Syntax:
The childs speech shows strong evidence against imitation, because his own production remains different on
morphological and syntactic levels. Many studies about the development of syntax in the childs language have
shown that the use of the childs language never violates the English syntactic rules. In the two-word stage, the
baby either begins his utterance with a wh-word, or only uses a rising intonation. By the telegraphic speech, he
may not use inversion; he would use negation, and may use double negation regularly.

Acquisition barriers of the second language

Children have few time in the week they have other occupations, so they do not have enough time to
learn and acquire the second language. Moreover, they have their mother language (1st L) by which they
communicate every day.
Concerning adults, their tongues got stiff from pronunciation of the 1st language; so they find difficulties
and cannot cope with other languages or speech sounds.

 There is a strong unwillingness or embarrassment concerning the pronunciation of some speech

sounds of the other language (2nd L).
The language faculty (which means the biological ability to learn and use the language) has been
taken over by the first language to there is less flexibility to receive the second language
Some are good at writing, but when it comes to oral communication, they cannot manage it

Methods of learning the 2nd language:

*the grammar method: (set of grammatical rules that have to be memorized, the emphasis is on the written
language rather than the spoken language); it focuses on the grammar vocabulary and translation from the 1st
language to the 2nd language.
Students who apply this approach leave with a good grammar and vocabulary skills, but a loss in the
communication and oral.

*the direct method: it is approximately the opposite of the first one.., the emphasis was placed on the spoken
and the oral language. The grammar and vocabulary were avoided.
(no use of the mother tongue and no translation..)

*the communicative approach: it is against the belief that learning grammar will result in an ability to use the
language. This approach is characterized by lessons organized around concepts; like asking for things in different
social contexts rather the forms of the past tense
Variety of language skills are involved, development of a communicative competence and interaction, and
focus on the meaning

*audio-lingual process: by using new material..; listening, speaking, reading and writing are developed. They
focus on the repetition and the inflection and replacement.
The belief that the fluent use of language was essentially a set of habits which could be developed into
practice.