Language Use as Part of Linguistic Theory

2001 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Theory

Linguistic units and their systems

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-300
Author(s):  
Ross Krekoski
Keyword(s):  
Social Action ◽  
Philosophy Of Mind ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Theoretical Explanation ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Rule Based ◽  
Fundamental Properties ◽  
Formal Systems ◽  
Linguistic Units ◽  
Self Reference

Abstract A theoretical discussion of units in linguistic theory would be, in a sense, incomplete without a discussion of the systems, whether overt or implied, that the units are associated with. This paper traces conceptualizations of units and their accompanying systems in several disciplines. We identify some important problems with rule-based accounts (Parsons 1937) of social action and discuss the transition to non-rule-based theory afforded by ethnomethodology (e.g. Garfinkel 1963, 1967; Heritage 1984, 2011). We draw direct parallels between these issues and analogous developments in mathematical logic (Gödel 1992) and philosophy of mind (Fodor 1968, 1983; Lucas 1961; Putnam 1960, 1967 etc.), and argue that these stem directly from fundamental properties of a class of all formal systems which permit self-reference. We argue that, since these issues are architectural in nature, linguistic theory which postulates that linguistic units are the outputs of a consistent, self-referential, rule-based formal systems (e.g. Hauser, Chomsky & Fitch 2002) will inevitably run into similar problems. This is further supported by examples from actual language use which, as a class, will elude any theoretical explanation grounded in such a system.

‘Simple Codes’ and the Source of the Second Language Learner's Initial Heuristic Hypothesis

1978 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Corder
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Restricted Range ◽  
Technical Description ◽  
Communicative Functions ◽  
Verbal Behaviour ◽  
Referential Function

Linguistic theory must be sufficiently rich and comprehensive to be able to account for the structure of the most complex or elaborate manifestation of language. In consequence any structurally less complex verbal behaviour is typically explained as a use of some ‘reduced’ or ‘simplified’ code or register. Many languages, if not all, are said to possess such reduced registers and it is said to be part of a native speaker's competence to be able to use such ‘reduced registers’ where appropriate. It is part of his total communicative competence to know when it is appropriate to use such registers. These reduced or simplified registers are associated with more or less well defined situations of language use or types of discourse. Telegraphese is obviously restricted by the medium of transmission as well as the restricted range of communicative functions it is used for, e.g. orders, reports and announcements of plans. Technical description in botanical and ornithological reference books have a purely referential function, while the so-called language of instructions has clearly restricted rhetorical functions.

Coincidence in Translation

Target ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert de Beaugrande
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Source Language ◽  
Language System ◽  
Communicative Context ◽  
And Linguistics

An important factor impeding the development of explicit theories of translation has been the centrality of coincidence. Skilled translating consists not of following rules or algorithms of equivalence, but of generating coincidences between the materials of the source language and those of the target language. Conventional aspirations of linguistic theory emphasize degrees of generality, uniformity and formality, which such an activity does not readily seem to fit. Also, language science and linguistics have consistently rated form over meaning and language system over communicative context, while translation is an activity in which meaning dominates over form, and context immediately controls and influences how the language system is used. Recent approaches to text and discourse are now striving to revise traditional theoretical aspirations in order to attain better models of language use, and may thus provide a basis for unifying theory with practice in translation.

Probing phonological structure in play language: Speaking backwards in Zenzontepec Chatino

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric W. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Language Maintenance ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Language Games ◽  
Linguistic Structure ◽  
Phonological Word ◽  
Phonological Structure ◽  
Depth Analysis

Play languages (also known as language games or ludlings) represent a special type of language use that is well known to shed useful light on linguistic structure. This paper explores a syllable transposition play language in Zenzontepec Chatino that provides evidence for the segmental inventory, syllable structure, the limits of the phonological word, the prosodic status of inflectional formatives, and the autonomy of tone, all of which aligns with independent phonological evidence in the language. While recent theoretical and cross-linguistic studies have questioned the nature, and even the validity, of constituents such as the phonological word, the syllable, and the onset, this study provides an example of a language with strongly manifested phonological constituents. The study also highlights the importance of in-depth analysis of less-studied languages for linguistic theory, typology, and language maintenance or reclamation for communities.

scholarly journals Historical Sociolinguistic Philology – a New Hybrid Discipline, its Interests, and its Scope

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Soukup
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Interactional Model ◽  
Current Special Issue ◽  
Ancient Texts

AbstractThis contribution presents the basic rationale and principles of a new hybrid discipline of historical sociolinguistic philology, or the sociolinguistically informed study of ancient texts, as showcased in the current special issue. It is shown how an interactional model of communication validates and scaffolds the application of synchronic sociocultural linguistic theory and findings to the analysis of ancient texts in order to achieve a more fully contextualized account and interpretation of their meaning from a perspective contemporary to their origination. In fact, it is argued that any study of ancient texts should take the perspective of its producer(s) and addressee(s) into consideration, and that written language use cannot be satisfactorily accounted for without reference to the immediate, on-the-ground-level social context and situation within which it arose.

What It All Comes Down To

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy Tzohar
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Philosophical Theory ◽  
Theory Of Meaning ◽  
The Face ◽  
Causal Activity

This chapter assembles the pieces of the puzzle, reconstructing Sthiramati’s argument in his commentary on Vasubandhu’s Triṃśika that all language use is metaphorical. It demonstrates how Sthiramati joins many of the elements introduced in the previous chapters of this book into an innovative philosophical theory of meaning. The innovation lies in tying together, through the pan-figurative view, the Yogācāra understanding of the causal activity of consciousness with a linguistic theory of sense. This theory enabled Sthiramati to present a unique understanding of discourse that distinguishes among varying levels of truth within the conventional realm. This understanding sat well with the Yogācāra’s soteriological and theoretical needs, and most important, allowed Sthiramati to defend the meaningfulness of the school’s own metaphysical discourse in the face of the Madhyamaka’s radical conventionalism. This suggests that the prominent dispute between the early Yogācāra and the Mādhyamika turned on linguistic rather than ontological issues.

scholarly journals BAHASA SUNDA DAN PENGGUNAANNYA DALAM INTERAKSI JUAL BELI DI PASAR SINDANG KABUPATEN CIREBON

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Afi Fadlilah
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Event Data ◽  
Observational Method ◽  
Community Based ◽  
West Java ◽  
Speech Event ◽  
Java Language

One dialect of Cirebon language is dialect Jawareh. It is the Java language which mix with Sundanese used in South of Cirebon regency, especially in Sindang Market on Lemahabang districts. This paper will discuss the language use in Sindang Market because it has its own characteristics that are different from the others Sundanese in West Java. This is because it is influenced by the geographical location and the diversity of backgrounds of the speech community. Based on this, this paper will discuss the Sundanese language and its use in the buying and selling interaction on the sindang market of Cirebon with the aim to describe the structure of the language and how to use it. The method used in this paper is the observational method with taping and recording techniques of the speech event data that is analyzed descriptively qualitative by using linguistic theory. The results of this study is that the specific characteristics of Sundanese in buying and selling interaction in the sindang market contained in intonation and the removal of vowel phonemes / a / and / ӧ / on specific vocabulary.

scholarly journals Communicative Approach in Teaching Foreign Languages

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (11) ◽  
pp. 359-365
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Speech Community ◽  
Actual Performance ◽  
Theory Of Language ◽  
Distribution Shifts

The Communitive Approach in language teaching starts from а theory of language as communication. The goal of language teaching is to develop communicative competence. Another linguistic theory of communication favored in CLT is functional account of language use. Linguistic is concerned with the description of speech acts of texts, since only through study of language in use are all the functions of language and therefore all components of meaning brought into focus. The goal of language teaching is to develop what referred to as “communicative competence”. This term is coined in order to contrast а communicative view of language and theory of competence. Linguistic theory is concerned primarily with an ideal speaker-listener in а completely homogeneous speech community, who knows its language perfectly and is unaffected by such grammatically irrelevant conditions as memory limitation, distribution, shifts of attention and interest, and errors (random or characteristic) in applying his knowledge of the language in actual performance.

Linguistic Competence in Aphasia

2008 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 87-92
Author(s):  
Leonard L. LaPointe
Keyword(s):  
Language Use ◽  
Linguistic Competence ◽  
Careful Study ◽  
Feral Children ◽  
Performance Factors ◽  
Performance Loss ◽  
Linguistic Rules ◽  
Communication Goals ◽  
Aphasia Treatment ◽  
And Performance

Abstract Loss of implicit linguistic competence assumes a loss of linguistic rules, necessary linguistic computations, or representations. In aphasia, the inherent neurological damage is frequently assumed by some to be a loss of implicit linguistic competence that has damaged or wiped out neural centers or pathways that are necessary for maintenance of the language rules and representations needed to communicate. Not everyone agrees with this view of language use in aphasia. The measurement of implicit language competence, although apparently necessary and satisfying for theoretic linguistics, is complexly interwoven with performance factors. Transience, stimulability, and variability in aphasia language use provide evidence for an access deficit model that supports performance loss. Advances in understanding linguistic competence and performance may be informed by careful study of bilingual language acquisition and loss, the language of savants, the language of feral children, and advances in neuroimaging. Social models of aphasia treatment, coupled with an access deficit view of aphasia, can salve our restless minds and allow pursuit of maximum interactive communication goals even without a comfortable explanation of implicit linguistic competence in aphasia.

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