Langue and Parole

Langue and parole
Langue and parole is a theoretical

linguistic dichotomy distinguished by
Ferdinand de Saussure in his Course in
General Linguistics.[1]
The French term langue ('[an individual]

language')[2] encompasses the abstract,
systematic rules and conventions of a
signifying system; it is independent of, and
pre-exists, the individual user. It involves
the principles of language, without which
no meaningful utterance, or parole, would
be possible.
In contrast, parole ('speech') refers to the

concrete instances of the use of langue,
including texts which provide the ordinary
research material for linguistics.[1]
Background and significance

Langue and parole are concepts belonging
to an argument made by Ferdinand de
Saussure for the autonomy of linguistics
as a scientific discipline. Saussure
declares language to be a social fact,
relating it to cultural and social sciences.
As such, he opposed the 19th-century
European views, that the study of
language is a subfield of psychology or
biology. This would be part of a
structuralist programme initiated in
sociology by Émile Durkheim.[3]
Structural linguistics, as proposed by

Saussure, assumes a non-biological
standpoint of culture within the nature–
nurture divide. Langue and parole make up
two thirds of Saussure's speech circuit
(French: circuit de la parole); the third part
being the brain, where the individual's
knowledge of language is located. The
speech circuit is a feedback loop between
the individual speakers of a given
language. It is an interactive phenomenon:
knowledge of language arises from
language usage, and language usage
arises from knowledge of language.
Saussure, however, argues that the true
locus of language is neither in the verbal
behaviour (parole) nor in the mind of the
speakers, but is situated in the loop
between speech and the individual,
existing as such nowhere else but only as
a social phenomenon within the speech
community.[1]
Consequently, Saussure rejects other

contemporary views of language and
argues for the autonomy of linguistics.
According to Saussure, general linguistics
is not:[1]
the study of human mind, as thought by

structural psychologists such as
Wilhelm Wundt (and, later, generative
and cognitive linguists).
the study of evolutionary psychology or
the biological research of living
organisms as claimed by Charles
Darwin[4] and the evolutionary linguists[5]
(which would later include 'usage-based
linguistics' which also argues for a
feedback loop between the speakers,
but without the emergent langue
phenomenon).[6]
an empirical discipline in the same way
that natural sciences are because the
true object of study has no physical
substance. Saussure however argues
that linguistic structures can be
scientifically uncovered through text
analysis.
Instead, it is properly regarded as the

study of semiology or languages as
semiotic (sign) systems.
Saussure considered parole as external to

the language system; however, the
structure of langue is revealed through the
study of parole. The distinction is similar
to that made about language by Wilhelm
von Humboldt, between energeia (active
doing) and ergon (the product of that
doing);[7] as well as the distinction
between language and speech made by
Jan Baudouin de Courtenay.[8] Saussure
drew an analogy to chess to explain the
concept of langue and parole. He
compared langue to the rules of chess (the
norms for playing the game); and the
moves that an individual chooses to make
to parole. The rules of the game – or
language – are systematised and
solidified in each historical stage.
Languages change diachronically, but the
previous historical stages are irrelevant to
the language users. What is essential is
that the current norms will always support
a coherent system.
Meaning of the terms
Langue …
French has two words corresponding to

the English word language:[9]
1. langue, which is primarily used to

refer to individual languages such as
French and English; and
2. langage, which primarily refers to
language as a general phenomenon,
or to the human ability to have
language.
Langue therefore corresponds to the
common meaning of language, and the
pair langue versus parole is properly
expressed in English as 'language versus
speech',[1] so long as language is not to be
taken in evolutionary terms, but as a
description of an (ultimately lifeless)
immaterial sign system. The Saussurean
term is not, for example, compatible with
the concepts of language organ, Universal
Grammar, or linguistic competence from
the Chomskyan frame of reference.
Instead, it is the concept of any language
as a semiological system, a social fact,
and a system of linguistic norms.
Parole …
Parole, in typical translation, means

'speech'. Saussure, on the other hand,
intended for it to mean both the written
and spoken language as experienced in
everyday life; it is the precise utterances
and use of langue. Therefore, parole, unlike
langue, is as diverse and varied as the
number of people who share a language
and the number of utterances and
attempts to use that language.
Relation to formal linguistics

From a formal linguistics perspective,
Saussure's concept of language and
speech can be thought of as
corresponding, respectively, to a formal
language and the sentences it generates.
De Saussure argued before Course in
General Linguistics that linguistic
expressions might be algebraic.[10]
Building on his insights, Louis Hjelmslev

proposed in his 1943 Prolegomena to a
Theory of Language a model of linguistic
description and analysis based on work of
mathematicians David Hilbert and Rudolf
Carnap in formal language theory.[11] The
structuralist endeavor is, however, more
comprehensive, ranging from the
mathematical organisation of the
semantic system to phonology,
morphology, syntax, and the whole
discourse or textual arrangement. The
algebraic device was considered by
Hjelmslev as independent of psychology,
sociology and biology.[12] It is consolidated
in consequent models of structural–
functional linguistics including Systemic
Functional Linguistics.[13]
Despite this success, American advocates

of the natural paradigm managed to fend
off European structuralism by making its
own modifications of the model. In 1946,
Zellig Harris introduced transformational
generative grammar which excluded
semantics and placed the direct object
into the verb phrase, following Wundt's
psychological concept, as advocated in
American linguistics by Leonard
Bloomfield.[11] Harris's student Noam
Chomsky argued for the cognitive essence
of linguistic structures,[14] eventually giving
the explanation that they were caused by a
random genetic mutation in humans.[15]
References
1. de Saussure, Ferdinand (1959) [1916].
Course in general linguistics (PDF).
New York: Philosophy Library.
ISBN 9780231157278.
2. "Langue" . Larousse Dictionnaire
français. Larousse. Retrieved
2020-05-20. "Système de signes
vocaux, éventuellement graphiques,
propre à une communauté d'individus,
qui l'utilisent pour s'exprimer et
communiquer entre eux : La langue
française, anglaise."
3. Hejl, P. M. (2013). "The importance of
the concepts of "organism" and
"evolution" in Emile Durkheim's division
of social labor and the influence of
Herbert Spencer". In Maasen, Sabine;
Mendelsohn, E.; Weingart, P. (eds.).
Biology as Society, Society as Biology:
Metaphors. Springer. pp. 155–191.
ISBN 9789401106733.
4. Darwin, Charles (1981) [1871]. The
Descent of Man, and Selection in
Relation to Sex (PDF). Princeton
University Press. pp. 59–61. ISBN 0-
691-08278-2. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
5. Aronoff, Mark (2017). "Darwinism
tested by the science of language". In
Bowern; Horn; Zanuttini (eds.). On
Looking into Words (and Beyond):
Structures, Relations, Analyses . SUNY
Press. pp. 443–456. ISBN 978-3-
946234-92-0. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
. Bybee, Joan L.; Beckner, Clay (2015).
"Usage-Based theory". In Heine, Bernd;
Narrog, Heiko (eds.). The Oxford
Handbook of Linguistic Analysis. Oxfor
University Press. pp. 953–980.
doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/978019954400
4.013.0032 .
7. Taylor, Charles. 1997. "Philosophical
Arguments." The Importance of
Herder. Harvard University Press. p.
97: "Language as a finished product, a
set of tools forged for future use, is in
fact a precipitate of the ongoing
activity. It is created in speech, and is
in fact being continuously recreated,
extended, altered, reshaped. This
Humboltdian notion is the basis for
another famous contribution of
Saussure, his distinction between
langue and parole."
. de Courtenay, Jan Baudouin. 1876–77.
A detailed programme of lectures for
the academic year 1876-77. p. 115.
9. "Langue" . Larousse Dictionnaire
français. Larousse. Retrieved
2020-05-20. "Système de signes
vocaux, éventuellement graphiques,
propre à une communauté d'individus,
qui l'utilisent pour s'exprimer et
communiquer entre eux : La langue
française, anglaise."
10. Staal, Frits (2003). "The science of
language". In Flood, Gavin (ed.). The
Blackwell Companion to Hinduism.
Wiley. pp. 348–359.
ISBN 9780470998694.
11. Seuren, Pieter A. M. (1998). Western
linguistics: An historical introduction.
Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 160–167. ISBN 0-
631-20891-7.
12. Hjelmslev, Louis (1969) [First
published 1943]. Prolegomena to a
Theory of Language. University of
Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0299024709.
13. Butler, Christopher S. (2003). Structure
and Function: A Guide to Three Major
Structural-Functional Theories, part 1
(PDF). John Benjamins. pp. 121–124.
ISBN 9781588113580. Retrieved
2020-01-19.
14. Lightfoot, David W. (2002).
"Introduction to the second edition of
Syntactic Structures by Noam
Chomsky" . In Lightfoot, David W.
(ed.). Syntactic Structures (second
ed.). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. v–
xviii. ISBN 3110172798. Retrieved
2020-02-26.
15. Berwick, Robert C.; Chomsky, Noam
(2015). Why Only Us: Language and
Evolution. MIT Press.
ISBN 9780262034241.
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Langue_and_parole&oldid=989639586"
Last edited 26 days ago by 126.103.170.75
Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless

otherwise noted.

Langue and Parole - Wikipedia

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Langue and Parole - Wikipedia

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Langue and Parole - Wikipedia

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Langue and parole is a theoretical

The French term langue ('[an individual]

In contrast, parole ('speech') refers to the

Background and signiﬁcance

Structural linguistics, as proposed by

Consequently, Saussure rejects other

the study of human mind, as thought by

Instead, it is properly regarded as the

Saussure considered parole as external to

Meaning of the terms

French has two words corresponding to

1. langue, which is primarily used to

Parole, in typical translation, means

Relation to formal linguistics

Building on his insights, Louis Hjelmslev

Despite this success, American advocates

Last edited 26 days ago by 126.103.170.75

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless

You might also like