Geneva School of Linguistics

Geneva Lake, Switzerland

Father of Modern Linguistics-Ferdinand de Saussure

University of Geneva

University of Leipzig

Luminary Figures within this Linguistic Circle

Charles Bally

Albert Sechehaye

Other luminary figures

Albert Riedlinger

Serge Kercevski

Langue

The Abstract System

Parole

Language=

Actual Speech

+

Syntagm

A combination of words forming phrases/clauses/sentences.

Example: The earth is flat.

Article Noun

Auxiliary verb

Adjective

Flat earth is the.

Paradigm

A paradigmatic relationship is where an individual sign may be replaced by another.

Example: Learning

Study

Knowledge

Discipline

The Syntagmatic And Paradigmatic Relationship

I fell down the tree=

I fell down the tree Syntagmatic

You dropped below a plant

He descended under an organism

She tumbled underneath vegetation

We crashed

They collapsed

Paradigmatic

Structural Linguistics

The Synchronic and Diachronic Linguistics

Example of Synchrony: Study of American English

Structuralism

Example of Diachrony- Study of the evolution of British English from Old to Modern English

Structuralism: Diachrony

Old English Modern English

dreng warrior

hofding chief

lent lentil

ostre oyster

āspendan to spend

tyrnan to turn

bemūtan to exchange

Structural Linguistics

“ A language is a device that establishes sound-

meaning correlations, pairing meanings with

signals to enable people to exchange ideas

through observable sequences of sound.”- Ronald

W. Langacker, Language & Its Structure, 1967

Linguistic Value

Different Phonemes:

“Sip” “Sap”

Linguistic Value-Sounds, Concepts, Opposites, and Relational Values

Linguistic Value- Consider the Opposites

The opposing dualities according to Ferdinand de Saussure

The articulatory and the acoustical duality

The duality of sound and sense

The duality of the individual and the society

The duality of langue and parole

The duality of the material and immaterial

The duality of the syntagmatic and paradigmatic

The duality of sameness and opposition

The duality of the synchronic and the diachronic

Semiotics:Concepts about Signs

Sign is dyadic

Signifier Signified Sign

Sound/Symbol/Abstract

Concept/Meaning/Concrete

• Sign is arbitrary

Signifier Signified

“Book”

Meow?

• Sign is relational

SignifiedSignified

Sign is conventional

The English word “Joke”:Signifier->

Signified -> Meaning agreed upon: something that you say or do to make people laugh

Thank You