Multiple views of how L and C are separated and related How we can put them back together I Saussure How Saussure drew a circle around language How to put culture back in Diachrony synchrony Descriptive prescriptive Language speech Signifier signified Arbitrary motivated Paradigmatic syntagmatic II From culture and language to languaculture Info on Paper topics 1 Paper topics due in class 10 4 Guidelines on moodle Wide range of possible topics as long as they follow basic guidelines Pick something of personal interest but paper itself can t be based on personal experience Analysis not report Happy to meet with people 2 Language In and out of the Circle and ICC Language as a formal system inside the circle forms and structures of language as a system unto itself Language beyond the circle how language use reflects and creates social and cultural meaning 3 Components of Language In and beyond the circle Traditionally within the circle Phonetics phonology Morphology Syntax Beyond the circle Pragmatics language as meaningful social action in context 4 Phonetics Phonology can be studied inside and beyond the circle Sound distinctions don t only contribute to dictionary meanings They add social and cultural meaning via accents Don dawn Ilk elk Orange Bus boss Block black 5 Phonetics Phonology outside Agar s circle The sound system of a language matters in intercultural communication 6 2 Morphology study of the smallest meaningful units in language cat s 2 morphemes noun pluralizing morpheme walk ed 2 morphemes infinitive past tense morpheme Examples of how morphology could go beyond the circle 7 3 Syntax study of structure grammar of a language rules for combining words in sentences Ex English SVO I love you Mary loves Sam vs You love me Sam loves Mary 8 Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe All mimsy were the borogroves and the mome raths outgrabe Beware the Jabberwock my son The jaws that bite the claws that catch Beware the jubjub bird and shun the frumious Bandersnatch Jabberwocky Lewis Carroll 9 Inside Circle Language Not Enough to Understand Culture Languages vary enormously in their phonology morphology and syntax All involved in knowing a language One can treat forms and structures of language as a system unto itself But why is this not enough at least according to Agar 10 Language In and out of the Circle Language as a formal system inside the circle forms and structures of language as a system unto itself Language beyond the circle how language use reflects and creates social and cultural meaning 11 But people use language to do things 12 Pragmatics language as action language in context language links to and gets meaning in context s language as a tool for social action a I now pronounce you legally wed the action this statement does b How s it going performs a greeting not a request for information c Excuse me Professor Koven Michele social context s d Chicaahgo Chicawgo social contexts types 13 So how are L and C connected Language is cultural Culture is often enacted through language Pragmatics shows how language links to culture 14 Agar s historical tour of how L and C got separated and reunited 15 Saussure Language inside the circle What he argues for and against 16 Saussurean perspective on meaning 1 diachrony synchrony 2 descriptive prescriptive standard non standard 3 language speech 4 signifier signified 5 arbitrary motivated 6 paradigmatic syntagmatic 17 Synchrony diachrony Learning historical origin of linguistic signs doesn t explain their meaning 18 Synchronic vs diachronic The fact that the game passed from Persia to Europe is external against that everything having to do with its system and rules is internal If I use ivory chessmen instead of wooden ones the change has no effect on the system but if I decrease or increase the number of chessmen this change has a profound effect on the grammar of the game 22 23 19 Language is a synchronic system p 88 A game of chess is like an artificial realization of what language offers in a natural form a state of the set of chessmen corresponds closely to a state of language The respective value of the pieces depends on their position on the chessboard just as each linguistic term derives its value from its opposition to all the other terms values depend all else on an unchangeable convention the set of rules that exists before a game begins and persists after each move Saussure Course in General Linguistics 20 21 Language vs Speech Language is comparable to a symphony in that what the symphony actually is stands completely apart from how it is performed the mistakes that musicians make in playing the symphony do not compromise this fact Saussure Course in General Linguistics p 18 LESS CONCERN WITH ACTUAL LANGUAGE USE MORE CONCERN WITH ABSTRACT SYSTEM 22 Language and Speech cont d Language exists in the form of a sum of impressions deposited in the brain of each member of a community almost like a dictionary of which identical copies have been distributed to each individual speaking not a collective instrument Taken as a whole speech cannot be studied for it is not homogeneous p 18 FOCUS ON HOMOGENEITY NOT HETEROGENEITY 23 Language and Speech cont d 24 Linguistic Meaning from Relations of Elements within a Larger System Language not a collection of labels for things But instead sound images and concepts or signifiers and signified 25 So how does language come to represent There is no direct relationship between language and the world 26 How do particular signifiers come to stand for particular signifieds k t 27 Speakers of other languages what is your signifier for 28 Signifier signified The relationship between the sounds k t and the concept is not natural but socially conventional or ARBITRARY 29 Arbitrary relation between signifiers and signifieds arbitrary does not mean left to the speaker individual does not have the power to change a sign in any way it is unmotivated no natural connection with the signified Saussure p 69 30 31 Arbitrary unmotivated relation between signifiers and signifieds Why do native speakers often experience the relationship as natural 32 Arbitrary as opposed to iconic signifiers would resemble signifieds Ex Onomatopea write down an example http www youtube com watch v loMy3kfTMgE Why can onomatopeas not explain how language works Indexical where signifers point to signified ex Interjections Ouch Hey you give an example 33 Arbitrary as opposed to Motivated Other