Untitled Flashcards Set

The Underlying Symbolic Structure of Languages

● According to Ferdinand de Saussure, all languages are structured on linguistic signs

- psychological entities comprised of a signifier (sound-image) and a signified (concept) → form the symbolic structure of a language, langue

● Langage: language in general, “total phenomenon”

● Parole: the act of speaking (and writing), execution of a language

● Langue is langage minus parole

● Langue transforms formless thought and sound into structured forms through linguistic signs ● Langue functions through the connections between linguistic signs, keeping language stable yet adaptable.

- Lingua franca: A language that is used as a common means of communication between speakers of different native languages.

● Language does not mirror reality, rather it interprets and classifies the real world through its langue

● Since langue is a self-regulating system, its linguistic signs have value, which depends on other signs (contrasting words) - tree - bush - plant

● Some languages have words for concepts other lack - in English: mouse - rat vs in Latin: mus

● Language shapes perception → Once a thing/phenomenon has a name, it becomes more “real” for that languages speakers

● The way we talk is shaped by the world around us, but words get their meaning from how they work together in a language. If your language makes you use special words for certain differences, you’ll notice those differences more easily in real life