Structuralism, Language Norms, and Usage: A Linguistic Analysis
Structuralism and Language: A System of Relations
According to structuralism, language is defined as a system where language units (phonemes, words, semes) exist in relation to other units through a complex network of relations such as opposition or neutralization. As regards paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations, Saussure refers to them as dichotomies as well as the opposition between signifier/signified, langue/parole, or synchrony/diachrony.
Paradigmatic vs. Syntagmatic Relations
On the one hand, when words are related paradigmatically, they relate to each other in an abstract way and are somehow equivalent. They can share the same context and even substitute each other because their meanings are related and normally they belong to the same category. On the other hand, language units relate syntagmatically when they share the same environment by being part of the same phrase, clause, or sentence but cannot substitute each other in the same context basically owing to the fact that their meanings are not related and they may not belong in the same word class.
Examples of Paradigmatic Relations
From the list provided above, the following words relate paradigmatically to the word food, namely, nourishment, sustenance, fodder, provisions, meal, supplies, bread, pizza, and cuisine. For instance, in a sentence like “The boy scouts were running out of food,” many of the words cited could be used instead of food: “The boy scouts were running out of pizza/bread/provisions.” However, the rest of the words in the box could not be equivalent for food as their meaning and form do not allow it. Smell and taste are verbs and have very little in common with the meaning of food although they could combine in sentences like “I could smell the food from the kitchen” or “I tasted the savory food.”
Coseriu’s Theory: System, Norm, and Speech
Analyzing Utterances
Read the utterances below. Which of them are sanctioned by the norm, according to Coseriu’s theory of language? Does any of them step outside the system?
- It is ten to six.
- It is five minutes after a quarter to six.
- In ten minutes it will be six o’clock.
Coseriu’s concepts of system, norm, and speech are closely linked to Saussure’s idea of langue and parole. The term langue refers to the conventions in a community of speakers, to the rules that regulate the language system, and parole to the actual use the speakers make of that language. What Coseriu does is redefining the concept langue by differentiating between the set of rules which regulate the language and allow for an infinite number of combinations, that is the system, and the actual habits amongst speakers, which discard some grammatically possible options that might have never been heard before, that is the norm. The term speech is very similar to Saussure’s parole.
Applying Coseriu’s Concepts
In this case, only the first example “It is ten to six” would be sanctioned (allowed) by the norm, since it is the only one native speakers of English would use to express that idea. In the USA we might hear “It is five fifty,” but none of the other two options would sound natural or usual to a native, in spite of being well formed. Therefore, options b) and c) could be considered as part of the system, since their grammatical structure is correct, there are no errors, yet they are not part of the norm since no one would use them to tell the time.