Structural grammar essay

UNIVERSIDAD DE CARABOBO
FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
ESCUELA DE EDUCACIÓN
DEPARTAMENTO DE IDIOMAS MODERNOS
CÁTEDRA LINGÜÍSTICA Y GRAMÁTICA DEL INGLÉS
ASIGNATURA: PEDAGOGÍA DE LAGRAMÁTICA

Structural Grammar

Student’s name:
Eukarys Arismendi

Valencia-Edo-Carabobo, Julio 2011

Structural Grammar

Grammar is the science based on the study of written and spoken language,its uses, structures and components; in other words grammar can be defined as the art of speaking and writing properly. Having defined grammar, it can be said that structural grammar (SG) is focused inthe study of language as a system of means of expression according to Cossé, Weber & Hidalgo (N.D) in their handout Structuralist Grammar. Consequently it can be understood that structural grammaris more concerned in the study of the spoken language.

Structural or structuralist grammar started in the XX century, and its main representative was Ferdinand de Saussure, who proposed a newview or conception of the language. Saussure conceived language as a system of words where all the elements were related and connected making structures. He also made important contributions such as dedefinition of diachronic and synchronic studies of language and also the definition of the linguistic sing. To clarify, the linguistic sing is an approach of SG that established the concept of thesignificant, which is the meaning or the mental representation of the concept that is represented by a sing or sound; and the signifier which is the acoustic image, or the mental representation of thesound that forms a sing, for example a letter. Consequently, the linguistic sing is the combination of both.

Moreover, Saussure considered that the relation between the significant and the signifierwas arbitrary or socially established because there is no intrinsic relation between the sound and the concept that is why a thing has different names in different languages, for example a tree or...