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Relationship between language and communication
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An important distinction that Saussure used was between language and speech. Language (langue) is a system, an universal structure and arrangement of rules shared by a community with principal linguistic patterns, as seen in forge in languages. Speech (parole) is the use of language individually, any particular act of language that is experienced in everyday life. It is diverse, it varies, it changes and is manipulated by time, social groups and the generation using it. A simpler way to put it is “if langue is the whole of language, parole is the part, or parts, which operates within the whole” (Kearney 241). So that while language is universal and timeless, speech is the slang belonging to the here and now. In reference to the definition of Semiology, a science of signs, it is important to understand Saussures idea when it comes to how he view the structure of signs. As humans, we try to make meanings of things and to interoperate …show more content…
Syntagm is the liner patten or sequence of linguistic objects, relations between signifiers functions when terms share a distinction. For example, when you have a sentence that makes sense, you can not change the words around or the letters in a word around horizontally without changing the meaning or destroying the connection between the signifier and the signified. The Paradigm refers to a group of terms which have similarities and that can replace one another in syntagm. For example, if you replace a paradigm, it is because you can replace a noun or a word vertically down the possible alternatives within that sentence and the phrase still makes sense because of the similarities. The paradigmatic relation operates by quality of association rather direct contact. Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic are somewhat the structure of a sentence, as in the
In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? by James Baldwin and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan both shows idea of uses of slang and language in different context. In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? Baldwin states that how language has changed and evolved overtime, Baldwin describes how black English were used as white English, in civil rights movement where blacks were treated as slaves and the used slang language to communicate so that the whites won’t understand. This slang was taken from black language and now everyone uses to make the communication short. In the essay Mother Tongue Tan explains that how language could affect people from different culture. Tan states that how Asian students in America struggle in English. Tan also states that her mother is smart but she couldn’t communicate in English. Tan thinks that’s a big disadvantage for her mother and people coming from different countries cannot show their talent because of their weakness in communication.
Semiotics delivers a sense of structure to further understand what deeply lies beneath a piece of text. Often, the study of semiotics is incomplete without the interpretation of signs, which are then used to understand how reality is socially constructed. An American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) and Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) are said to have created the modern system of semiotic analysis, particularly claiming that "this universe is perfused with signs, if it is not composed exclusively of signs." (Zeman, 1977, p.24) If it is said that everything is to be composed of signs, as Peirce states, how might one go about interpreting substance in their everyday life? Substance, or texts, that we consume daily,
Richards stated that meanings could be categorized in terms of "signs" and "symbols." I. A. Richards utilized these distinctions to emphasize his idea of meaning within individuals not in words.
—. Language: Readings in Language and Culture. 6th ed. New York: St. Martin's, 1998. Print.
The first theory used to analyze this magazine is the semiotic theory, developed by C.S. Peirce. This theory is used to find the meaning of signs and claims it is all in the meaning of the signs used. “A sign refers to something other than itself – the object, and is understood by somebody.
In the early 1900s Ferdinand de Saussure coined the term semiology. Semiology is concerned with "anything that can stand for something else." French writer Roland Barthes concentrates on interpreting signs. His ultimate goal is to explain how seemingly straightforward signs pick up ideological or connotative meaning and work to maintain the cultural status quo. In the book, A First Look at Communication Theory, Em Griffin presents the semiotics theory then later goes on to critique it. As for myself, I believe Barthes' theory is right in some ways and in other ways is not.
Paradigms are belief systems that establish our actions patterns, practices and thoughts. Webster Dictionary defines paradigm as "an example or pattern: small, self-contained, simplified examples that we use to illustrate procedures, processes, and theoretical points." The most quoted definition of paradigm is Thomas Kuhn 's (1962, 1970) concept in The Nature of Science Revolution, paradigm as the underlying assumptions and intellectual structure upon which research and development in a field of inquiry is based. My understanding of Kuhn’s quote is that paradigms are a set of scientific theories that are well
Ferdinand de Saussure is one of history’s greatest contributors to both modern linguistics and structuralist semiology. Semiology can be understood as the analysis of sign systems. Prior to Saussure’s theory, “linguistics was principally diachronic and he was the one who inaugurated the synchronic study of language and the way meaning is structurally generated” (Potter, 2015). Additionally, semiology can also be interpreted as the attempt to study reality as a text. There is not a single part of our reality that cannot in some way, shape or form be considered part of a text. “We may not realize it, but in fact semiology can be applied to all sorts of human endeavors, including cinema, theatre, dance, architecture, painting, politics, medicine,
also if this language is not one which is of a mother tongue then it
Spoken language is the language carrier of interpretation. Actually "the concept of `colloquial language' concerning interpretation is just the outer form of the distinctive national symbol systems used by source or target languages. Thus it is not a concept of speech but a concept of language. That's to say, spoken language can not be equated with speech which refers to the use of spoken language; instead it is a sound natural symbol system for human communication but different from its later-comer--- written language. It follows its own regular ...
The quote's definition is that language cannot be fully understood without looking at the social context in which it is used. The meaning of the words is dependent on the social environment. Crystal (2016) stated that when English is taken to a different country, in come the 'loan' words from other people in the country, and which makes English language hard to understand for native speak people. Choosing the right words, grammar and pronunciation all reveal what kind of people belong to which group in society. It also depends on what belief or background the person is from and what kind of home environment they live in. Geiger (2014) stated that "language means something slightly different to each person" (para. 2). Everyone has a different
Signs. They're everywhere. Though this statement is in no way enlightening, it is none the less very true. Within our culture, we are so completely surrounded by signs of all types that they become nearly invisible unless they are looked for. Though this likely seems true to you upon some reflection, it is just as likely that you have only considered "signs" in the most basic literal sense, that is, signs such as those that offer directions to the nearest parking lot or those denoting street names. However, semiologists1 consider signs in a much more broad manner. To semiologists, signs include both verbal and non-verbal2 communications, as well as objects or phenomenon taken as signs by their viewer. In fact, road signs and their ilk make up only a very small part of what semiologists study. Other signs, non-verbal communications for instance, tend to make for more interesting subjects of study as they are much more dynamic in both their use and perception. However, not to ignore the road signs, I will take up the ever-present stop sign as an example throughout this piece, as both a sign that demands our immediate attention and yet goes by almost unnoticed.
Written discourse differs in many aspects from spoken discourse. In written discourse, there is no "Phonological resources to help you structure the information"(86). Also, in written discourse, there is no "opportunity for the addressees to interrupt and ask for clarification"(86). That is only the written text has to be clear, with careful wording following grammatical structure in forming sentences. In spoken texts, there are no sentence boundaries, so intonation is very important. However, sentences are incomplete, and ambiguous because of the shared background between the participants.
Language is a part of our everyday lives, and we can describe the meaning of language in many ways. As suggested in Gee and Hayes (2011, p.6 ) people can view language as something in our minds or something existing in our world in the form of speech, audio recordings, and writings or we can view language as a way of communicating with a group of people. Language can be used to express our emotions, make sense of our mental and abstract thoughts and assists us in communicating with others around us. Language is of vital importance for children to enable them to succeed in school and everyday life. Everyone uses both oral and written language. Language developed as a common ability amongst human beings with the change
To understand how signs function, semiosis, Morris proposes four elements: Sign vehicle (S), Designatum (D), and Interpretant and interpreter (I). "The mediators are sign vehicles; the taking-account-of are interpretants; the agents of the process are interpreters; what is taken account of are designata" (Morris, 1972: 19). Those elements of semiosis become the foundation of branches of linguistics and basic elements of language. The branches of linguistics are semantics is the study of sign in its relation to designatum, pragmatics the study of sign in relation to interpreter, and syntactics the study of sign in relation to other signs. Based on those semiotic elements, Morris proposes a definition of language: “a language is . . . any inter-subjective set of sign vehicles whose usage is determined by syntactical, semantical, and pragmatical rules” (Morris:48). An objection for this definition of language might be that by extending the four semiotic elements into linguistics and language, Morris’s definition of sign will be problematic since all objects that are symbolically and linguistically associated with other objects are defined as signs. Therefore one might observe the discrepancy of his definition of sign with his examples (See C. J. Ducasse, 1942). Since this paper is aimed at demonstrating my understanding on Morris’ theory of sign, I will describe the problematic aspects of Morris’s arguments if they become obstacles for me to understand his arguments.