Page 4 - Task 2

Saussure set out to turn linguistics into science on condition that other elements
of language were dispensed with (CLG, 31). He considered that it is proper to

linguistics to define a system of correspondences between sound and meaning
and his analysis implied describing each of these two planes and their
interconnect ions. Mastering language required a theory that strictly distinguished
the specific vocal-graphic event (speech or writing) from its nature as a sign,

never materializable, and therefore ideal in its essence. For him it was necessary
to make explicit the separation between the system and its manifestation, or

between language and speech.

Olga Lucia Agudelo

Exercise 1.4

Attribute each of the following phrases to either Ferdinand de Sausurre, Noam
Chomsky, or Michael Halliday. What motivates your response? What does the

quote tell you about their perspective on the study and analysis of language?

Noan Chomsky

‘If we could embrace the sum of word-images stored in the minds of all
individuals, we could identify the social bond that constitutes language. It is a

storehouse filled by the members of a given community through their active use
of speaking, a grammatical

Introduction to the linguistics