Semantics

BASIC CONCEPTS II 45
These ideas include the link between knowledge and language, the
definition of language, what kind of knowledge is linguistic knowledge,
the basic aspects of language acquisition, the relationship between language
description and philosophy and, finally those kinds of methods of analysis
which are mainly used in linguistics.
The link between knowledge
and language
Definition of language
The knowledge of language
Language acquisition
Language description and
philosophy
It has to do with the
epistemological position held
in connection with the formfunction
relation.
Rationalism favours the
concept of innate forms over
the concept of function.
Empiricism gives more
importance to the concept of
function. Structuralism in
linguistics claims that much of
the form of linguistic units
depends on the function or role
they play in higher structures
Methodological aspects of
linguistic analysis
Strongly connected with the
preferred approach to
knowledge acquisition .
Closely linked to the source of
data (intuition or linguistic
data)
Formal Approach
Independent aspects
(modular)
Language is a human
faculty or capacity
Based on linguistic
competence
Specific linguistic aspects
are innate and constitute
Universal Grammar
Linguistic description is
independent of any role
language might play
Rationalism: Method of
analysis based on the
recognition of pure ideas
and on intuition
Data: based on
grammaticality.
Grammaticality is based
on intuition and
introspection
Unit of analysis: Clear-cut
units. E.g.: the clause
Functional Approach
Deeply interrelated aspects
Language is a system of
communication or information
transmission
Based on communicative
competence
Language learning and
acquisition is part of general
learning mechanisms that
imply interaction. There is an
innate anatomical and
neurological base which
favours linguistic acquisition
The communicative function of
language determines, to some
extent, linguistic organization
Empiricism: Method of analysis
based on observable data
Data: based on real language
use (corpora)
Grammaticality is a function of
information transmission.
Unit of analysis: less clearly
delimited. E.g.: the text.