Comprehensive Linguistics: Core Concepts
& Analysis
Prepared by Bay Harbor Archives
Table of Contents
1. Language as a System & Structural Linguistics
Comparative Linguistics
Saussure's Structural Linguistics
2. Noam Chomsky & Generative Grammar
Background & Break from Behaviorism
Universal Grammar (UG)
Transformational Generative Grammar (TGG)
Competence vs. Performance
3. Sentence Structure & Varieties
Slang, Jargon, and Euphemisms
Grammatical Categories & Syntactic Rules
4. Semantics & Pragmatics
Semantics (Sense Relations, Homonymy & Polysemy)
Pragmatics (Cooperative Principle, Speech Acts)
5. Language in Society
Dialects and Idiolects
Regional and Social Dialects
Languages in Contact (Lingua Franca, Pidgins, Creoles)
, 1. Language as a System & Structural Linguistics
Language as a System & Semiotics
Language is a network of signs. Meaning is relational, not fixed. A structuralist view: language
works as a system with rules that govern usage.
Semiotics: The general science of signs. Language is a system of rules within this
framework.
Linguistic Value: Value comes from the signifier's relation to others, the signified's
relation to other concepts, and the combination of both. Linguistic value can be viewed as
a quality of the signified, the signifier, or the complete sign.
Comparative Linguistics
Originated in between 18th - 19th century. 19th-century languages came from a common
source.
Uses the comparative method and sound laws. The laws governing sound change are
regular and have no exceptions that cannot be accounted for by some other regular
phenomenon of language.
Focuses on cognates (words with shared origins). Cognate languages have the same
source. Detailed studies indicated that changes were not coincidental but systematical.
Sir William Jones in 1786 discovered relationships between Latin, Greek, and Roman.
(e.g., English and Italian stem from the same parent language).
Tracing back differences in speech sounds is called "reconstruction".
Methodology: Collection of Data $\rightarrow$ Classification
$\rightarrow$ Generalization (Similarities are classified according to this).
Saussure's Structural Linguistics
Saussure's thought regarding the dynamic form-meaning relationship stems from his structuralist
view of language.
Signifier vs. Signified
o Signifier: Sound image (Expresses the word; the physical form that is seen and
heard). When articulated, the sound image becomes realizable.
o Signified: Mental concept (The meaning or idea formed in the mind).
& Analysis
Prepared by Bay Harbor Archives
Table of Contents
1. Language as a System & Structural Linguistics
Comparative Linguistics
Saussure's Structural Linguistics
2. Noam Chomsky & Generative Grammar
Background & Break from Behaviorism
Universal Grammar (UG)
Transformational Generative Grammar (TGG)
Competence vs. Performance
3. Sentence Structure & Varieties
Slang, Jargon, and Euphemisms
Grammatical Categories & Syntactic Rules
4. Semantics & Pragmatics
Semantics (Sense Relations, Homonymy & Polysemy)
Pragmatics (Cooperative Principle, Speech Acts)
5. Language in Society
Dialects and Idiolects
Regional and Social Dialects
Languages in Contact (Lingua Franca, Pidgins, Creoles)
, 1. Language as a System & Structural Linguistics
Language as a System & Semiotics
Language is a network of signs. Meaning is relational, not fixed. A structuralist view: language
works as a system with rules that govern usage.
Semiotics: The general science of signs. Language is a system of rules within this
framework.
Linguistic Value: Value comes from the signifier's relation to others, the signified's
relation to other concepts, and the combination of both. Linguistic value can be viewed as
a quality of the signified, the signifier, or the complete sign.
Comparative Linguistics
Originated in between 18th - 19th century. 19th-century languages came from a common
source.
Uses the comparative method and sound laws. The laws governing sound change are
regular and have no exceptions that cannot be accounted for by some other regular
phenomenon of language.
Focuses on cognates (words with shared origins). Cognate languages have the same
source. Detailed studies indicated that changes were not coincidental but systematical.
Sir William Jones in 1786 discovered relationships between Latin, Greek, and Roman.
(e.g., English and Italian stem from the same parent language).
Tracing back differences in speech sounds is called "reconstruction".
Methodology: Collection of Data $\rightarrow$ Classification
$\rightarrow$ Generalization (Similarities are classified according to this).
Saussure's Structural Linguistics
Saussure's thought regarding the dynamic form-meaning relationship stems from his structuralist
view of language.
Signifier vs. Signified
o Signifier: Sound image (Expresses the word; the physical form that is seen and
heard). When articulated, the sound image becomes realizable.
o Signified: Mental concept (The meaning or idea formed in the mind).
