linguistics Language et Parole The distinction between the French words langue language or tongue and parole speech enters the vocabulary of theoretical linguistics with Ferdinand de Saussures ID: 927532
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Slide1
Basic concepts of modern linguistics
Language et
Parole
:
The
distinction between the French words,
langue
(language or tongue) and
parole
(speech), enters the vocabulary of theoretical linguistics with Ferdinand de Saussure’s
Course in General Linguistics
, which was published posthumously in 1915 after having been collocated from student notes.
La langue
denotes the abstract systematic principles of a language, without which no meaningful utterance (
parole
) would be possible. The
Course
manifests a shift from the search for origins and ideals, typical of nineteenth century science, to the establishment of
systems
. The modern notion of system is reflected in the title of the course:
General
Linguistics. Saussure in this way indicates that the course will be about language in general: not this or that particular language (Chinese or French) and not this or that aspect (phonetics or semantics). A general linguistics would be impossible by empirical means because there exist innumerable objects that can be considered
linguistic
. Instead Saussure’s methodology allows him to establish a coherent object for linguistics in the distinction between
langue
and
parole
.
Slide2Langue and Parole
Langue
represents the “work of a collective intelligence,” which is both internal to each individual and collective, in so far as it is beyond the will of any individual to change.
Parole
, on the other hand, designates individual acts, statements and utterances, events of language use manifesting each time a speaker’s ephemeral individual will through his combination of concepts and his “phonation”—the formal aspects of the
utterance.
Saussure
points out that the single word “linguistics” therefore covers two very different kinds of study. The study of
parole
would be entirely focused on individual utterances, using all the available resources of formal and empirical study to analyze actual statements, usually within a specific language. The study of
langue
would be focused instead on generally applicable conditions of possibility. The
Course
thus follows the second route in this inevitable “bifurcation,” setting out the groundwork for all attempts to grasp the basic conditions of possibility for language and language use generally. There would be no coherent and meaningful utterance without the institution of norms that Saussure calls
langue
. So it is this that forms the object of study for modern linguistics. Such an object could not
ever
be made visible (as a stretch of text can) but one
can
in principle establish the rules and conditions that make it possible to speak and write in meaningful ways.
Langue
and
parole
has been translated by alternative semiotic categories like
system
and
process
(A J
Greimas
) or
code
and
message
(Roman
Jakobson
), which interpret Saussure’s distinction in specific ways. The main assumptions of structuralism and semiology (or semiotics) would be that for every process (an utterance for instance) there is a system of underlying laws that govern it; and that the system arises contingently (there are no natural or necessary reasons for the relations within it to be as they are).
Slide3Langue and Parole
The scientific approach to systems, inherited by Saussure, assumes that the elements which make them up correspond to organized and integrated unities. Each element in a system should be located in its place on the web of relationships between elements. The elements of the linguistic system are, however, the mental phenomena called signs. A sign is comprised of both a mental image (signifier) and an idea (signified). Saussure’s most famous statement concerns how these signs are differentiated in themselves and related to each other. “In language,” he says, “there are only differences without positive terms.” He distinguishes between meaning and value to get the point across. “What we find, instead of
ideas
being given in advance, are
values
emanating from a linguistic system. If we say that these values correspond to certain concepts, it must be understood that the concepts in question are purely differential. That is to say they are concepts defined not positively, in terms of their content, but negatively by contrast with other items in the same system. What characterizes each most exactly is being whatever the others are not”
.
The notion of value thus designates a quality that is entirely relative to other values in the system. The concept of a dog or a cat, a virtue or a crime, gets its value as a linguistic unit entirely relative to the values of all the other linguistic units. So no linguistic unit can be regarded as a positive pre-existing entity or idea (whether concept or mark). To define a linguistic unit, rather, is to specify in what ways it is similar to or different from the other units within the system. Two marks
a
and
b
are not, despite appearances, grasped positively by our consciousness. We grasp the
difference
between
a
and
b
etc. It is for this reason, Saussure says, that each sign “remains free to change in accordance with laws quite unconnected with their signifying function
”.
Linguistic items are therefore always based, ultimately,
upon
their non-coincidence with the others. This what also allows considerable flexibility in their relations—the
play
between signifiers and between signifiers and
signifieds
, their
difference
.
Slide4Langue and Parole
Langue
and parole are more than just 'language and speech' (although this is a useful quick way of remembering them
).
La langue
is the whole system of language that precedes and makes speech possible. A sign is a basic unit of langue.
Learning a language, we master the system of grammar, spelling, syntax and punctuation. These are all elements of langue.
Langue is a system in that it has a large number of elements whereby meaning is created in the arrangements of its elements and the consequent relationships between these arranged elements
.
Parole
is the concrete use of the language, the actual utterances. It is an external manifestation of langue. It is the usage of the system, but not the system
.
By defining Langue and Parole, Saussure differentiates between the language and how it is used, and therefore enabling these two very different things to be studied as separate entities.
As a
struct
uralist
,
Saussure was interested more in la langue than parole. It was the system by which meaning could be created that was of interest rather than individual instances of its
use.
Mikhail
Bakhtin (1929) criticized the splitting of langue and parole as separating individuals and society where it matters most, at the point of production. He developed a 'dialogic' theory of utterances where language is understood in terms of how it orients the speaker/writer to the listener/reader. Words are subject to negotiation, contest and struggle. Language is strongly affected by social
context.
Modification
of langue at the point of parole is used to create new meaning, either where the speaker has limited grasp of language or where deliberate distortion is used.
Slide5Langue and Parole
Within the discipline of linguistics, it allows the linguist to identify two distinct objects for study. On the one hand, parole names the concrete usage of language in a particular social group, through its various permutations and conventions; on the other hand, langue names the system or set of rules that makes any individual usage of language (parole) possible.
The distinction might seem a rather familiar form/content pairing, but I think it was quite a novel way of looking at language, and has influenced linguistics and language teaching considerably. For instance, the distinction between langue and parole has likely led to an increased emphasis on teaching students the general rules and structure of a language (either via study of grammar, or practicing using it), with less focus on
vocabularly
and learning phrases by
rote.
In
French philosophy this distinction received a lot of attention in part because Saussure claims that langue, the structure of language, is “not a function of the speaking subject
”.
This
claim has strong anti-idealist tones that contrasted with the popular strains of phenomenology and existentialism prevalent at the time, along with Hegelian readings of language from figures such as
Hyppolite
.
Saussure’s
claim that the system of language is organized before or exceeds the subject was exactly the antidote desired by a number of thinkers looking for paths out of these contemporary philosophical
attitudes.
It
has been taken up in Marxists (Althusser) and psychoanalysts (
Lacan
), numerous other thinkers (Derrida, for instance). For psychoanalysis, langue became a new way of thinking about the unconscious (the symbolic order). For Marxist thought the relations and codes of langue were the relations and codes of
society.
It
gave literary critics and sociologists, for example, a theoretical framework, according to which they would now look for the underlying structure of a text or society. I’m sure this is more or less what they were already doing, but calling it structuralism and having it all underwritten by a trendy, scientific linguistics adds a sense of purpose and support,
no?
If
the system that ultimately gives meaning to our utterances is independent of any individual speaker or author, then the idea that the author’s intentions ought to be the chief basis for interpreting a text is put into question.
That
has been an influential
insight!
The
idea that the system of language (i.e. what gives it meaning) is independent of the subject has been incredibly influential in all sorts of disciplines. Even the basic distinction between system and usage has led to a difference of focus in things like language teaching.
See
also
https
://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiH1b8L_hjM
Slide6Langue and Parole
L
angue
, the system of language, coded in our minds, and it dictates how the things will come out of our mouths. When we find some expression ungrammatical (in its linguistic sense), it's because it is against langue. This is however an abstract system, and when words come out, the result is
parole
. That's the actual representation of langue.
Parole
has all the varying outcomes of language,
whereas
langue, the system behind it, is homogeneous.
One
can
assume
that the
parole
side of language is social. Sociolinguists research this social variation occurring for example in different situations.
But
when
we observe language as an entity, this side is really individual. It sounds paradoxical, but it is
langue
that is social. Although it is the abstract system in everybody's brains, it is formed socially: we got the system of language when we as little children listen to grown-ups. The system in our cognition comes to be as it is because the others have it in that form as well.
One
can
easily
think
that
langue
is the core where everything comes from. Well, it is in that sense that we produce and understand language based on it. But still it is not, because it exists because of
parole
. We wouldn't have
langue
in our heads if we hadn't first heard
parole
.
Parole
also causes the changes to the
langue
. The individual ways of speaking always change for some reason, and when the changes spread to masses of speakers, they become part of
langue
, and thus they will be used because the abstract codex says so. This is why the nature of this abstract system is social.
Slide7Langue und Parole
Saussure unterscheidet bei der Sprache drei Aspekte, die er mit drei unterschiedlichen Ausdrücken bezeichnet:
Langage
ist dabei die menschliche Sprache an sich, das biologische Vermögen des Menschen zu sprechen;
Langue verweist auf eine Sprache im Sinne einer bestimmten Einzelsprache wie Französisch oder Deutsch, als ein abstraktes System von Regeln, aber auch auf innersprachliche Systeme (Lautsprache – Gebärdensprache);
Parole ist das Sprechen, also der konkrete Akt des Sprachbenutzers, der spezielle
Sprachgebrauch
.
Der Begriff
langage
bezeichnet die menschliche Sprache als vortheoretischen
Phänomenbereich
, also so, wie sie den Sprechern in der Sprechtätigkeit begegnet. Demgegenüber ist die
langue
als theoretischer Sprachbegriff zu verstehen, der eine erkenntnislogische Ordnung in den vortheoretischen
Phänomenbereich
der menschlichen Rede, des
langage
, bringt. Die
langue
kann also begriffen werden als sprachwissenschaftliche Perspektive, unter der die
langage
betrachtet wird.
Langue hat eine soziale und eine individuelle Dimension: In ihrer sozialen Dimension (
fait
social
) ist
langue
eine intersubjektiv geltende gesellschaftliche Institution, ein sozial erzeugtes und in den Köpfen der Sprecher aufgehobenes, konventionelles System sprachlicher Gewohnheiten. In ihrer individuellen Dimension ist sie mentales „
depôt
“, bzw. „
magasin
“ (etwa: Warenlager) einer subjektiv internalisierten Einzelsprache (also sozusagen die subjektive Fassung der
langue
).
Auch der Begriff der
parole
hat eine soziale und eine individuelle Seite. Er meint einmal den konkreten Sprechakt, also die individuelle Realisierung der
langue
durch den je einzelnen Sprecher (
hic
et
nunc
) gebundene, raum-zeitliche Realisierung des Systems. Zugleich ist die
parole
aber in ihrer sozialen Dimension der Ort der dialogischen Hervorbringung neuen sprachlichen Sinnes, also der Ort der Genesis und Veränderung der
langue
.
Langue und
parole
stehen also in einem komplexen Verhältnis der wechselseitigen Bedingtheit: Auf der einen Seite gibt es nichts in der
langue
, das nicht durch die
parole
zuvor in sie gelangt wäre. Andererseits ist die
parole
nur möglich aufgrund jenes sozialen Produktes, das
langue
heißt.
Die
parole
kann unmittelbar beobachtet werden, die
langue
hingegen nicht. Nur im Nachhinein kann auf sie geschlossen werden, wenn man den
Entstehensprozess
sprachlicher Zeichen rekonstruiert, also die Artikulation. Sie ist zu verstehen als theoretischer Aspekt des menschlichen Sprachvermögens, der
langage
.“
Slide8Langue et Parole
En séparant la langue de la parole, on sépare du même coup
:
ce
qui est social de ce qui est
individuel
C
e
qui est essentiel de ce qui est accessoire et plus ou moins accidentel.
La langue n'est pas une fonction du sujet parlant, elle est le produit que l'individu enregistre passivement. (...)
La parole est au contraire un acte individuel de volonté et d'intelligence. (...)
Récapitulons les caractères de la langue :
Elle
est un objet bien défini dans l'ensemble hétéroclite des faits de langage. On peut la localiser dans la portion déterminée du circuit où une image auditive vient s'associer à un
concep
t.
Elle
est la partie sociale du langage, extérieure à l'individu, qui à lui seul ne peut ni la créer ni la modifier ; elle n'existe qu'en vertu d'une sorte de contrat passé entre les membres de la
communauté
.
D'autre part, l'individu a besoin d'un apprentissage pour en connaître le jeu ; l'enfant ne se l'assimile que peu à peu. Elle est si bien une chose distincte qu'un homme privé de l'usage de la parole conserve la langue, pourvu qu'il comprenne les signes vocaux qu'il entend.
La
langue, distincte de la parole, est un objet qu'on peut étudier séparément. Nous ne parlons plus les langues mortes, mais nous pouvons fort bien nous assimiler leur organisme linguistique. Non seulement la science de la langue peut se passer des autres éléments du langage, mais elle n'est possible que si ces autres éléments n'y sont pas
mêlés
.
Tandis
que le langage est hétérogène, la langue ainsi délimitée est de nature homogène : c'est un système de signes où il n'y a d'essentiel que l'union du sens et de l'image acoustique, et où les deux parties du signe sont également
psychiques
.
La
langue n'est pas moins que la parole un objet de nature concrète, et c'est un grand avantage pour l'étude. Les signes linguistiques, pour être essentiellement psychiques, ne sont pas des abstractions ; les associations ratifiées par le consentement collectif, et dont l'ensemble constitue la langue, sont des réalités qui ont leur siège dans le cerveau. En outre, les signes de la langue sont pour ainsi dire tangibles ; l'écriture peut les fixer dans des images conventionnelles, tandis qu'il serait impossible de photographier dans tous leurs détails les actes de la parole .(...) C'est cette possibilité de fixer les choses relatives à la langue qui fait qu'un dictionnaire et une grammaire peuvent en être une représentation
fidele
.
Slide9Referenceshttps://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b1f3/c0b40cf7d8c88f59ee993b882e3c9105a586.pdf by John Phillipshttp://
changingminds.org/explanations/critical_theory/concepts/langue_parole.htm
https://
www.quora.com/What-is-so-important-about-Saussures-langue-and-parole
http://
www.psyalpha.net/biografien/ferdinand-de-saussure/ferdinand-de-saussure-langage-langue-parole-signifikant-signifikat-bedeutung
https://
www.ac-grenoble.fr/PhiloSophie/logphil/textes/textesm/saussu3m.htm