Glossematics
Encyclopedia
Glossematics is a structuralist
linguistic theory
of the twentieth century proposed by Danish linguist Louis Hjelmslev
. It defines the glosseme as the most basic unit or component of language. The glosseme is defined as the smallest irreductible unit of both the content and expression planes
of language; in the expression plane, the glosseme is said to be identical or nearly identical to the phoneme
, whereas it is stressed that traditional analyses have not adequately revealed the basic units of the content plane of languages.
The term was coined by Louis Hjelmslev
and Hans Jørgen Uldall
; glosseme was a neologism deriving from the Greek
word glossa
(meaning "tongue"). The ultimate goal of the linguist who studies glossemes is the same as that of a physicist
who studies atoms, to wit a more perfect understanding of the whole through a thorough study of the structure of the constituent parts. To the greatest extent possible, glossematics seeks to take a tabula rasa
approach, constructing an internally consistent framework of axioms and principles with minimal reliance on external terms. It is an abstracting form of structuralism
, concerned with how "functives" describe relationships among "terminals" rather than with words themselves. This system, constructed without recourse to any particular language or constructivist modality, seeks to establish a universal standard defining the necessary and sufficient conditions of language.
Structuralism
Structuralism originated in the structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and the subsequent Prague and Moscow schools of linguistics. Just as structural linguistics was facing serious challenges from the likes of Noam Chomsky and thus fading in importance in linguistics, structuralism...
linguistic theory
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
of the twentieth century proposed by Danish linguist Louis Hjelmslev
Louis Hjelmslev
Louis Hjelmslev was a Danish linguist whose ideas formed the basis of the Copenhagen School of linguistics. Born into an academic family , Hjelmslev studied comparative linguistics in Copenhagen, Prague and Paris...
. It defines the glosseme as the most basic unit or component of language. The glosseme is defined as the smallest irreductible unit of both the content and expression planes
Sign (linguistics)
There are many models of the linguistic sign . A classic model is the one by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. According to him, language is made up of signs and every sign has two sides : the signifier , the "shape" of a word, its phonic component, i.e...
of language; in the expression plane, the glosseme is said to be identical or nearly identical to the phoneme
Phoneme
In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
, whereas it is stressed that traditional analyses have not adequately revealed the basic units of the content plane of languages.
The term was coined by Louis Hjelmslev
Louis Hjelmslev
Louis Hjelmslev was a Danish linguist whose ideas formed the basis of the Copenhagen School of linguistics. Born into an academic family , Hjelmslev studied comparative linguistics in Copenhagen, Prague and Paris...
and Hans Jørgen Uldall
Hans Jørgen Uldall
Hans Jørgen Uldall was a Danish linguist known for developing the linguistic theory of glossematics with Louis Hjelmslev. From 1951-52 he wrote the first part of his and Hjelmslev's coauthored work "Outline of Glossematics", Uldalls views differed from Hjelmslev's in several important points...
; glosseme was a neologism deriving from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
word glossa
Glossa
Glossa may refer to several things:*glossa , a Greek word meaning "tongue" or "language" and is used in several English words including gloss, glossary, glossitis, and others...
(meaning "tongue"). The ultimate goal of the linguist who studies glossemes is the same as that of a physicist
Physicist
A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...
who studies atoms, to wit a more perfect understanding of the whole through a thorough study of the structure of the constituent parts. To the greatest extent possible, glossematics seeks to take a tabula rasa
Tabula rasa
Tabula rasa is the epistemological theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge comes from experience and perception. Generally proponents of the tabula rasa thesis favour the "nurture" side of the nature versus nurture debate, when it comes to aspects...
approach, constructing an internally consistent framework of axioms and principles with minimal reliance on external terms. It is an abstracting form of structuralism
Structuralism
Structuralism originated in the structural linguistics of Ferdinand de Saussure and the subsequent Prague and Moscow schools of linguistics. Just as structural linguistics was facing serious challenges from the likes of Noam Chomsky and thus fading in importance in linguistics, structuralism...
, concerned with how "functives" describe relationships among "terminals" rather than with words themselves. This system, constructed without recourse to any particular language or constructivist modality, seeks to establish a universal standard defining the necessary and sufficient conditions of language.
See also
- The Copenhagen School of LinguisticsThe Copenhagen school (Linguistics)The Copenhagen School, officially the "Linguistic Circle of Copenhagen ", was a group of scholars dedicated to the study of structural linguistics founded by Louis Hjelmslev and Viggo Brøndal...
- Formal logicFormal logicClassical or traditional system of determining the validity or invalidity of a conclusion deduced from two or more statements...
- MemeticsMemeticsMemetics is a theory of mental content based on an analogy with Darwinian evolution, originating from Richard Dawkins' 1976 book The Selfish Gene. It purports to be an approach to evolutionary models of cultural information transfer. A meme, analogous to a gene, is essentially a "unit of...
- PhonologyPhonologyPhonology is, broadly speaking, the subdiscipline of linguistics concerned with the sounds of language. That is, it is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use...