Structuralist Linguistics
After
noding a while I've found that one of the
epiphenomena of creating a wu was acquiring a better
understanding of the
material at hand. In the case of structuralist linquistics I certainly hope this is the case, but there does seem to be a lot of gnat-straining going on here The school was developed by a Swiss, Ferdinand de Saussure (b. 1857, d. 1913), and I'm not at all certain that his
structuralism isn't just another case of the emperor's clothes.
In this context, two technical terms immediately spring to mind, one
Spanish and the other
Yiddish, both of which may
aptly be applied to structuralism. In Spanish
slang the word
baba has the
literal meaning of "
spit." Students will apply the term to a lecture where there is a lot of talk and very little, if any,
substance.
Pfumpfit is used in Yiddish to refer to someone who talks as if he knows something about a topic, but actually knows very little. This is just a personal aside.
The basic
elements of the
system, if system there be, involve:
Signs: the most basic elements of language, which is another way of saying that language is a system of signs. Signs have 2 components: the signifier (such as a noise) and signified (idea behind the noise). Noises count as language only if they communicate ideas.
Signs are arbitrary: which is to say that a sign is an arbitrary combination of signifier and signified. No particular noise is better suited to conveying a particular idea than any other, except for onomatopoeia and the combinations of other words. As an extension of this, it is posited that any language divides up the noise spectrum (phonics?) and concept spectrum arbitrarily. The inescapable conclusion is that signs are not autonomous. They do not name concepts that exist independently. Our understanding of signs is possible only in the context of a system.
Langue-Parole: Langue (a French word for language) is a "system of forms. It is general and societal." (I feel a gnat coming on!!!) Linguistics studies the langue. Parole (a French word meaning speech), is is the "externalisation" of langue in actual speech. Phonetics studies the Langue.
Value-Signification: the meaning of a sign in relation to other signs in the system is its value. The meaning of a sign in a particular context is its signification. Clear?
Diachronic and Synchronic perspectives: when one studies a linguistic system at one point in time, it is a synchronic examination. When one studies the same system over time it is a diachronic examination. Structuralism asserts that because signs are arbitrary and relational, the system must be studied first synchronically and then diachronically.
Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic (or Associative) Relations Between Linguistic Elements: "There is a syntagmatic relation between elements which might combine in a sequence. E.g., ‘he followed’ and ‘George’. There is a paradigmatic relation between elements which might replace one another. E.g., ‘George’ and ‘John’." Such relations function at all levels of linguistic analysis. The linguistic system can be described (synchronically) as a system of syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations at different levels.
Language is a Social Fact: Language is essentially a system of social conventions. Words are endowed with their meaning by society. The conceptual spectrum is divided by society etc.
Resource: http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~fl3min4/saussure.html