PRE-SCIENTIFIC LINGUISTICS

The science that has been established around the facts of language has passed
through three successive phases before adopting the current modern approach.

It began by organizing what was called grammar. This study,

inaugurated by the Greeks and continued especially by the French, it was
founded on logic and devoid of any scientific and disinterested vision of the
the language itself; what grammar aimed to do was solely to provide rules for
distinguish the correct forms from the incorrect forms; it was about a
normative discipline, far removed from pure observation and its point of view was,
therefore, necessarily reduced.

Then philology appeared. There was already a philological school in Alexandria, but
this term is mainly associated with the scientific movement created by Friedrich
August Wolf starting from 1777, which continues to this day. The language is not the
the unique object of philology, which aims above all to fix, interpret, comment on the
texts. This first study also leads to literary history, of customs,
of the institutions, etc.; everywhere he uses the method that is his own, which is the
criticism. If it addresses linguistic issues, it is mainly to compare texts of
different times, to determine the particular language of each author, to
decipher and explain inscriptions written in an archaic or obscure language. Without
doubt these investigations are the ones prepared for historical linguistics: the
Ritschl's work on Plautus can already be called linguistic, but in that
terrain, the philological criticism fails at one point: that it adheres too much
serves the written language, and forgets the living language. Moreover, the
Greco-Roman antiquity is what absorbs it almost entirely.

The third period began when it was discovered that languages could
to compare with each other. This was the origin of comparative philology or grammar
comparison. In 1816, in a work titled System of the Conjugation of
Sanskrit, Franz Bopp studied the relations that connect Sanskrit with the
Germanic, Greek, Latin, etc. and understood that the relationships between languages
relatives could become an autonomous science. But this school, with
having had the undisputed merit of opening a new and fruitful field, did not reach
constitute true linguistic science. He never worried about determining the
nature of its object of study. And without such elementary operation, a science is
unable to find a method.
of linguistics
Saussure
 Scientific Linguistics

Modern linguistics began in the 19th century with the activities of the
known asneo-grammariansthat, thanks to the discovery of Sanskrit,
they were able to compare the languages and reconstruct a supposed original language,
theProto-Indo-European languageThis encouraged linguists to create a science
positive in which there was even talk ofphonetic lawsfor thechange
linguistic.

However, it will not be until the publication of the Course in General Linguistics (1916),
composed of notes taken by students in the course taught by the
SwissFerdinand de Saussure, when does linguistics become a science
integrated into a broader discipline, thesemiology, which in turn is part of
thesocial psychology, and define its object of study. The distinction between language (the
system) and speech (the use) and the definition of linguistic sign (meaning and
significant) have been fundamental for the subsequent development of the new
science. However, their perspective —known asstructuralistand what
we can classify, in opposition to later currents, as of styleempiricist
it will be called into question at the moment when it had already given the majority of
its fruits and, therefore, its limitations were more evident.

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF STRUCTURAL LINGUISTICS

Orival: Saussure established the distinction between those two concepts. Diachrony
It addresses the linguistic changes that occur over time. The
synchronicity, on the other hand, refers to the state of a language at a given moment,
abstracting from the temporal factor. With the idea of synchrony, it opens up the
door to the consideration of language as a set of elements, each one of
which are related to the others. Synchrony and diachrony are
complement. Saussure established the relationship in the study of signs based on
of three elements, which are: Signified, signifier, and referent.

What the linguistic sign unites is a concept (meaning) and an acoustic image.
(significant). Therefore, the linguistic sign is the combination of both. The
Significant is a mental representation of the sounds that form a sign.
we observe when we talk to ourselves mentally. The meaning
it is the mental representation of reality, the interpretation of the concept. The
signs do not appear in isolation, but in relation. Saussure proposed two
types:

Syntagmatic: It occurs between two signs that are co-present in the discourse.
Paradigmatic: It is established between the signs that are present and those that are
are absent.
Another proposal within structuralism is that of André Martinet. It is based on the idea
that languages are articulated; the elements of language can be
descomponer en una jerarquización de signos. Así sinónimos de "articulación"
they would be segmentability and analyzability. We distinguish between the first articulation.
and the second joint:

First articulation: Analyze the statements in monemes: minimum units.

with meaning and signifier. They cannot be decomposed into units of the
same type.
Second articulation: They analyze the morphemes into phonemes. The phonemes do not
they behave meaning and only have significance.

APPROACHES TO LINGUISTICS

2. DIACHRONY AND SYNCHRONY Saussure established the distinction between those two
concepts. Diachrony addresses the linguistic changes that occur over time.
Throughout time. Synchrony, on the other hand, refers to the state of a language in a
given moment, abstracting from the temporal factor. With the idea of the
synchrony, it opens the door to the consideration of language as a set
of elements, each of which is related to the others.
3. OBJECT OF LINGUISTIC THEORY The object of structural linguistics is
the study of the relationships between the elements that are part of the system. These
Elements are linguistic signs. Semiotics is a branch of psychology.
social and is responsible, according to Saussure, for the study of 'the life of signs in the
breast of social life.
4. GRAMMAR-TRANSLATION METHOD In applied linguistics, the method
Grammar-translation is a method for teaching foreign languages.
that derives from the traditional teaching method of Greek and Latin. This method
requires students to translate large amounts of text, word by
word, and to memorize several grammatical rules and exceptions as well as
long vocabulary lists. The goal of this method is to have the ability to
read and translate great masterpieces and classics.
5. Leonard Bloomfield Leonard Bloomfield (Chicago April 1, 1887 - New
Haven April 18, 1949) was an American philologist and linguist, one of the
most important representatives of American structuralism. Developed
works in morphology and syntax. He was the main founder of the Society
Linguistics of the United States.
6. BIOGRAPHY He specialized in European linguistic currents,
especially in the comparative method he applied to the Amerindian languages.
He was a professor, among other North American universities, at those of Chicago and
Yale. In his famous work The Language, published in 1933 as
revision of his Introduction to the Study of Language (1914), describes the state of the
Avant-garde linguistics at that time. The book adopts the psychological framework of the
Watson's behaviorist school and rejects the application of everything that was not
"directly observable" for linguistic analysis. In the study of language, one
marginalizes the semantic aspect.
 IMPORTANCE OF GENERAL LINGUISTICS

Linguistics has an analytical approach to the study of language, linguistics

develop skills in data analysis, problem solving and
logical thinking that can be applied to many fields of teaching. For
For example, graduates with a B.A. or A.B. in linguistics have a strong foundation (a
sometimes in combination with training in another specialization) of which
they can pursue a career in areas such as editing and the industries of
communication, translation and interpretation, the fields of computing,
foreign language teaching, and the teaching of English as a second
tongue.

Graduates in linguistics can choose to pursue studies in

postgraduate in this area, or in disciplines related to psychology,
language and audience sciences, anthropology, philosophy or science of the
computing, linguistics also provides an excellent preparation for the
law school.

The interaction between language and the mind is a universal human characteristic.
and an exclusive component of the human mind and brain, the study of the
the nature of human language provides important insight into the
human cognitive abilities. The linguists who are
those focusing on language as a cognitive process are interested in issues
such as: Do you know that it allows you to translate the symbols you are reading in the
meanings? How do children learn the language and why is learning the
a second language often difficult? Why is it so hard to program the
Computers to understand language? How could language evolve?
in humans? How would language abilities compare to
other cognitive abilities? Many linguists who explore language as
a cognitive process conducts experiments in areas such as perception of
speech and production, language processing, and language acquisition
from the child to better answer these questions.

Language is an intrinsically social phenomenon. How you speak depends

factors such as where you grew up, your racial and ethnic identity, whether you are
a woman or a man prepared in education, you use variation in the
language, as a creative means of expressing who you are (and who you are not).
By studying this variation, researchers improve their understanding.
of language, as well as its understanding of social processes, and discover the
social factors that influence our linguistic choices and how these
decisions are perceived by others. Linguists who study the aspects
social aspects of the language also investigate topics such as how and why languages
they change
over time, how new languages are created when speakers of languages
divergent come into contact, how linguistic attitudes are used to
maintain forms of discrimination, what are social conversations like,
transactions, the relationship between language and power, and the use of language in the
media.

The results of linguistics, like the results of any theoretical study,

they can be applied to the solution of practical problems, as well as to the
innovations in areas that involve everyday language. These activities
are the concern of applied linguistics.

Some of the many positive contributions of applied linguistics are the

development of teaching methodologies for first and second language, the
practical literacy work, the development of alphabets and grammars of
unwritten languages, the compilation of dictionary (lexicography), the use of
experts in judicial cases that involve language, the development of
special teaching strategies for Spanish speakers, and synthesis
of voice and voice recognition.

OBJECT OF STUDY IN LINGUISTICS

It is a discipline whose object of study is human language. It is about a

theoretical science given that it formulates explanations designed to justify the
language phenomena, that is, the design of theories about some aspects of
language and a general theory of it.

It is worth noting that linguistics is not only a theoretical knowledge, it is also a

empirical science that makes detailed observations about languages, especially
to confirm or refute general statements. In this sense, the linguist
as a scientist, one must accept language as it is observed and from its
observation, explain what it is like. Its function is neither to prevent the "deterioration" of the
nor much less to seek a "betterment". Indeed, it is not about a
prescriptive science rather than merely descriptive.

The nature of human language

The term language in a broad sense applies to different systems of

communication from mathematical symbolism to musical notation. It usually
to discuss whether these systems are or are not languages. To resolve this dilemma, one
Note that languages created for specific purposes would not be natural.
this way, the field of study of linguists is restricted to the realm of
"natural" languages.

Human language is especially characterized by its creative aspect, this is

the ability that a speaker would have to combine linguistic units in
infinite sets of sentences, sentences that are often said for the first time
sometimes, this is, not produced by mere repetition.
 APPLIED LINGUISTICS

It is ainterdisciplinary areaof thelinguisticsthat focuses on the study of

social problems that are related to thelanguage.
The development of linguisticsappliedIt occurred especially during thecentury
XXinNorth America, Great Britain, EuropeyAustraliain the worldAnglo-Saxon.
InUnited Statesand Great Britain focused on the teaching ofEnglish language,
while in Australia the concern was about the studies of languages
aborigines and how to teach English to the immense number of immigrants that the country
received in that century. Starting from the decade of the50, this followed one more line
interdisciplinary concerned with language problems that were related to
with theeducation, thepsychologyanthropology, thepedagogyand thesociology. The
discipline soon reached other contexts outside the English-speaking world and in the
current affairs has a broad international and intercultural outlook.

Concept

It is a branch of thelinguisticsthat deals with the problems that the

language poses as a means of social relationship and from which three branches or
fields of action:

Teaching ofmother tongue.

Teaching ofsecond language.
Computer-Assisted Language LearningComputer-Assisted Language
LearningCALL).
Communication (and its problems) in different social spheres (economic,
political, legal, etc.
There are many approaches, among which the following stand out:
Communicative approach.
Task-based approach(TBLT, for its acronym in English).
Approach ofcooperative language learning.
They all rely on two major theoretical branches:

In the field of linguistics, it is understood that thestructuralism.

In the field of education, there are the currents ofconstructivismy

cognitivism.
The main branches of applied linguistics includebilingualismy
themultilingualism, communication mediated by systems, conversational analysis,
contrastive linguistics, linguistic evaluation, literacy, discourse analysis,
language pedagogy, acquisition ofsecond language, lexicography,
linguistic normalization, pragmatics, forensic linguisticsytranslation.
 THE LINGUISTIC FIGURE: LANGUAGE, TONGUE AND SPEECH

1. Metonymy: It consists of transferring the meaning of one word to another.

2. Simile: It consists of relating one object to another.
3. Epithets: It consists of designating a quality that is inherent to a noun.
4. Hyperbole: It consists of exaggerating or diminishing the truth of what is said.
5. Pleonasm: It consists of creating superfluous expressions in terms of meaning, but that
will give the phrase more strength and beauty.
6. Polysyndeton: It consists of multiplying conjunctions in order to
present the objects as isolated so that it made the more vivid
imagination.

Language as the ability to establish communication through signs,

whether oral or written. In this way, language presents a multitude of
different manifestations in the various communities that exist in our
planet. These manifestations are what we know as languages or tongues,
like Spanish, English, French, or German. It would not be correct to speak,
so much for 'Spanish language' or 'French language'. It is important to know how to use
the terms with the precision they deserve.

On the other hand, language is, as we have said, a system of signs that
speakers learn and retain in their memory. It is a code, a code that
knows each speaker, and uses it whenever he needs to (which is often very
small intestine). This code is very important for the normal development of the
communication between people, as the fact that all speakers of
A language that they know is what allows them to communicate with each other.

And so what is speech? It is the embodiment of the above, the recreation of

that model known to the entire linguistic community. It is a singular act, because the
which an individual person, voluntarily, encrypts a specific message,
choosing the code, the signs, and the rules it needs. In other words,
way, it is the act by which the speaker, either through phonation (emission
of sounds) or of writing, uses language to establish an act of
communication.

Between language and speech, a kind of intermediate stratum is established that them
Linguists understand it as a norm. The norm is what prevents us from using some...
linguistic forms that, adhering to the logic of the language, could be
correct. It happens when a child says andé instead of anduve, in the same
the way I would say played, watched, or sang. This type of rules has a historical origin and,
Thus considered, they do not constitute any irregularity. The rule imposes deviations.
in certain aspects of the language that we all accept, but the speaker does not
they have to know them at the beginning, and that's why it's so common that, among those who
They are learning, such types of errors arise.
 Linguistic Sign

It is a linguistic unit that can be perceived by the human being through the
senses and allows you to imagine another reality that is not present. It is a
social construction that operates within a linguistic system and that puts a
element
the same and to explain the other systems of signs; but it is important to note
that in linguistics and semiotics the theory defines the object. Linguistic as
the language of language The linguistic sign was approached by two different authors,
on one side Ferdinand de Saussure and on the other Charles Sanders Peirce, who
at the end of the 19th century they developed their studies in which they addressed a
same phenomenon: the sign, but from different perspectives: Saussure uses
a linguistic perspective, while Peirce's is logical-pragmatic. And
both laid the foundations of what is now known as the 'General Theory of the
Signs. If the sign is considered from the perspective of F's study.
Saussure establishes a sign composed of two bipolar faces: one
Meaning, what the concept is; and a signifier, which is the acoustic image.

Ferdinand de Saussure opposes considering the linguistic sign as a

unitary entity, which involves conceiving language as a nomenclature (it is
say, a simple list of terms that correspond to things,
assuming that ideas are pre-existing to signs. He proposes that unity
linguistics is a biplanar entity composed of two terms: a concept and
an acoustic image. The concept is archived in the minds of speakers of
the language and can be described as a bundle of minimal elements of meaning,
in such a way that the concept 'dog' would be expressed as the set composed of
animal
the sound (a purely material thing), but the psychic imprint it leaves in us
brain. These two elements are closely linked and call upon each other.
Then Saussure replaced concept and acoustic image with meaning and
significant respectively. In other words: Saussure proposes that the sign
linguistic is a composite unit formed by the union of a meaning and a
significant.

LINGUISTICS

The term linguistics refers to the discipline that deals with the study
scientific study of the structure of natural languages as well as the knowledge that they
native speakers of them have of the same.
So, linguistics, like any science, focuses on studying and explaining
the laws that govern language, explaining to all of us how it is that the
languages have functioned at a certain moment in time, which
it will also allow us to understand its general functioning.
Current or modern linguistics began to develop in the 19th century, but with
the posthumous publication of the Course in General Linguistics, published by one of the
the greatest scholars of the subject, Ferdinand de Saussure, linguistics
it will become an independent science but integrated into semiology,
starting to place special emphasis on the distinction between language (system) and the
speech (use) and in regard to the definition of linguistic sign. Then, already in
In the 20th century, the renowned linguist Noam Chomsky added an aspect
fundamental to the subject, developing what is known as current of
generativism, which proposes a new perspective on the topic,
focusing and thinking of language as a process of the speaker's mind and
in the innate capacity that we individuals have that allows us to use and acquire
that language.

SIGNIFICANT

It is used in structural linguistics and in semiotics to denote that

material or almost material component of the linguistic sign and that has the function of
pointing to the meaning (mental representation or concept that corresponds to
that phonic image). In the psychoanalytic theory of Jacques Lacan, for whom the
the unconscious is structured like a language, the concept plays a
central role.

MEANING

It is the mental content given to a linguistic sign. That is, it is the

concept or idea that is associated with the sign in all types of communication, such as is the
mental content. Defined this way, the meaning has a subjective component that
it depends on each person, as each one assigns a mental value to it
meaning, but by convention this meaning must be the same to carry out a
optimal communication (see definition).

According to Charles Peirce, meaning is the interpretation of the sign or

representamen. The 'second' Wittgenstein defines the meaning of everything as
coming from the use, from its function. It's another way of stating that the meaning
it comes from the usefulness of something. Gottlob Frege in On Sense and Reference
it warns that the meaning includes something more than the reference of an expression or
sentence.
 PROPERTIES OF THE LINGUISTICS OF THE TEXT

1. TEXT LINGUISTICS Studies: The text as a unit of

[Link] pragmatic level: Situation in which it occurs.
communication. The text is the total unit of communication: 1. Responds to a
communicative intention. 2. It is an act where the speaker expresses an intention.
It occurs in a situation.
2. TEXTUAL PROPERTIES The appropriateness: Selection of possibilities
linguistic more appropriate for the situation. Coherence: It makes the text
interpret as a unit of globally meaningful information. Cohesion:
Property by which the units of the text are related.
3. THE ADAPTATION Selection of the most appropriate linguistic possibilities
for the situationGOAL: to achieve the maximum communicative purpose that is
proposed the sender. EXAMPLES: •Spontaneity. •Information: •Impactful.
Spontaneity
strong. •Neutral tone. •Studied presentation. •Imprecision.
4. COHERENCE Organize the text globally to convey a meaning. 1.
Selecting the information: In its linguistic context (words that surround the
message). According to the situation in which the communication develops. Using the
set of diverse knowledge. •Linguistic competence. •Knowledge
about knowledge. •Cultural knowledge. 2. Structuring the information: Everything
the text must have a theme or an idea. The appearance of the information must be
progressive. It must follow a previous scheme.
5. COHERENCE RULES Repetition Rule: Statements must be
chained. Progression Rule: There must be a constant contribution of
information. Rule of non-contradiction: Statements must not contradict each other.
Rule of Relation: The facts must have a connection in the real world
the imaginary.
6. COHERENCE Coherence is an inherent property of all texts, which
consists of the ability to build a unified whole in which the parts
keep them locked together regarding the content. In other words, a text
coherent when: ► It presents a meaningful or noticeable unity
in the existence of a clear and precise theme: -GLOBAL COHERENCE OR
THEME ►The parts that make it up do not appear isolated but rather
they connect with each other, forming a structure: -LINEAR COHERENCE OR
STRUCTURAL ► The successive statements convey ideas or judgments that do not
they violate the fundamental principles of logic, common sense, or the rules
universals of human knowledge: -LOCAL COHERENCE
7. LOCAL COHERENCE Coherence not only affects the theme and the structure.
The successive statements that form a text must respect three principles.
basics: Compliance with the framework of the Observation of the laws elementary discourse
from the logic Compliance with the rules A turtle pleaded to a master of knowledge
The eagle-man who taught Charles V how to fly was born in Germany, and this
he said it was when his mother sews unrelated to her nature... The Indians
Comanches were chasing buffalo through the jungles in Germany.
from the Sahara desert. Acceptable within the framework of a It is not a fable text It is not
a text
8. GLOBAL OR THEMATIC COHERENCE All the information contained in a
The text revolves around an informational core or a theme closely linked.
to the communicative intention of the speaker and that serves as a unifying axis of others
I like music
classic and tomorrow I have a Language exam. The euro is the currency of the Union
European. The whale is a mammal. I like classical music. My composer
favorite is Beethoven. Yes, text constitutes: Precisely next Friday the
Spanish Radio and Television Orchestra performs the Ninth Symphony in the auditorium
municipal. I plan to attend with my friend Fernando. We already have the tickets. This
informative core or topic goes by various names, depending on the schools: plan
global, framework for global integration (MIG), macrostructure or topic of discourse.

LINGUISTIC NORM

It is a social convention in the desirable use of a certain language,

especially from onestandard languageThe most well-known form of standard
linguistics, but not the only one, is theprescriptive or normative language. Eugene
Coseriugives it a different meaning, considering it the plane of abstraction
linguistic situated between the system and speech, terms that had already been
proposedFerdinand de SaussureThat standard would be the prototypical realizations.
in the case of phoneticsallophones) or the standard grammatical constructions.
A possible definition of linguistic norm: "everything established socially or
traditionally in the technique of speech", or the "formalized set of
traditional achievements of the system," which encompasses everything that already exists, everything that has already

carried out in the linguistic community.