Structuralism

Structuralism is a school of linguistics that focuses on the structure of language.

It emerged through the ideas of Ferdinand De Saussure who is considered as the father
of modern linguistics and the father of structuralism. De Saussure claims that
linguistics is a part of semiology which concerns the structure of signs and the laws
that govern them within society. His dichotomy of Langue and Parole is considered as
the basis of structuralism.
In Europe, the Prague school developed a branch of structuralism that attempted
to study language change and relied on the observation of realia. In addition to this, the
Copenhagen school contributed to the development of structural linguistics by giving
importance to the form of language and using logical empiricism. In the first half of
the twentieth century, European structuralism became predominant in America. This
approach developed mainly through ideas of Edward Sapir who views language as an
acquired function of culture and has provided some concepts that shaped structural
linguistics. Moreover, Sapir and his student Benjamin Lee Whorf developed the SapirWhorf hypothesis which includes two main concepts: Linguistic determinism which
implies that language conditions the way of thinking, and Linguistic relativity which
means that each language is distinct from the other languages.
Sapir and Bloomfield are considered as founders of the American
structuralism. However, Leonard Bloomfield is viewed as the most important
representative of this school as he contributed to the development of structuralism
through his methodology and rejection of philosophical ideas. He accepts De
Saussures ideas, but he gives more importance to phonology. He also insists on the
analysis of the structure of language through the study of grammar. American
structuralism is represented by the Bloomfieldians including Zelling Harris, Charles
Hocket, Henry Lee Smith and George Trager.

Structural linguistics relies on the idea that langue is abstract and parole is
concrete. Thus, the role of the linguist is to study the concrete level of language.
Structuralism is based on the following assumptions that can be summarize d as
follows:

It
It
It
It
It

focuses on the spoken language.

relies on the objective study of language.
gives importance to the synchronic study.
puts emphasis on the structure of language.
is based on Saussures ideas concerning langue and

parole.

Structuralism gives too much importance to grammar. The main element

involved in structuralism is the immediate constituent analysis which was introduced
by Bloomfield in 1933. Bloomfield illustrated the idea of immediate constituent
analysis through the sentence Poor John ran away. This sentence is composed of two
constituents: the subject (poor John) and predicate (ran away). The subject includes
two constituents: the head (John) and the modifier (poor). The predicate involves a
verb phrase consisting of the verb (ran) and the particle (away). Immediate constituent
analysis considers the sentence as the basic unit of language. Its ideas developed when
Chomsky added rules for the generation of sentences in order to create generative
grammar.
Generally speaking, structuralism contributed to the development of the study
of language and helped to make linguistics as a science. Moreover, it focuses on the
study of phonemes and morphemes.
References:
Lyons, John. Language and Linguistics: An Introduction.
Cambridge: CUP. 1981.
Trask, Robert. Key Concepts in Language and Linguistics.
London: Routledge. 1999.