Linguistics: Traditional School and Greek Philosophers

What was the primary focus of the Greek philosophers when it came to language?

Who is credited with distinguishing between nouns and verbs?

What is the core concept of language according to Ferdinand de Saussure?

Who discovered the categories of pronouns, adverbs, and prepositions?

What is the analogy used by Ferdinand de Saussure to describe language?

What was the focus of the traditional school of linguistics?

What is the main criterion for the arrangement of chess pieces?

What is the relationship between langue and parole according to Saussure?

What is the key difference between the approach of a behaviorist psychologist and a structuralist linguist?

What do the words of a language have in common with the pieces of a chess game?

What does the concept of langue refer to in Saussure's theory?

What is the focus of a structuralist linguist?

Traditional School of Linguistics

Traditional linguistics originated from Greek philosophers, who focused on written language and considered grammar a branch of philosophy.
They recognized language patterns and attempted to systematize them.
Key topics of interest included the origin of language, logic, rhetoric, and etymology.
The Greek philosophers discovered the "parts of speech", with Plato distinguishing between nouns and verbs, and Aristotle identifying conjunctions.
Aristotle also argued for the existence of tense in the Greek verb.
Dionysius later discovered categories like pronouns, adverbs, and prepositions.

Modern Schools of Linguistics

Ferdinand de Saussure and Bloomfield were leading figures of this school.
De Saussure believed language is based on the differences between units that make up the language system.
He considered language as a structure that can be studied independently of human behavior.
Saussure compared language to a chess game, with words having different meanings that relate to each other independently.
He characterized language by dividing it into "langue" (tacit knowledge of language) and "parole" (the actual use of language rules).

Structuralist Linguistics and Behaviorism

Structuralist linguistics was influenced by psychological behaviorism.
Behaviorists believed that data can be observed in human behavior.
Structuralist linguists saw language data as part of human behavior.
By observing and understanding human behavior, linguists can discover and explain the principles of language.

Explore the roots of traditional linguistics, tracing back to Greek philosophers who focused on written language and grammar as a branch of philosophy.