Structural Linguistics
Its History, Contributions and Relevance
Structural linguistics first appeared in the mid-twentieth century during the study of Indo-European languages. Franz Boas, an anthropology professor at Columbia University was studying native American cultures with his students as a part of classroom fieldwork. They began to pay attention to the language patterns of native American groups, and noticed that it was difficult to describe the various languages because of the different forms of language structure that were used. They noticed that the traditional Latin-based grammar which is used in English and other Indo-European languages was not useful in analyzing this new class of languages. Therefore, structural linguistics was established to focus on language structures, primarily those which are different from those in typical Indo-European languages.
It analyzes how words form and how those words are used together to form larger structures. This discipline was able to draw a line between form and meaning in language. Traditional grammar focuses mainly on the meaning of the collection of words portrayed. Structural linguistics is primarily concerned with the form of the language. For example, structural linguistics would emphasize that a sentence have a noun and verb in agreement, while traditionally, a sentence needs to be a "complete thought".
Structural linguistics set itself apart from historical-descriptive grammarians early in its history. Instead of studying a language from a historical perspective, structural linguists stressed studying the language of the people that was currently being spoken in the speech community, not the speech patterns that occurred in times past. Historical information about times past was irrelevant to the primary concerns of a structural linguist. Structural linguists also believed that the linguistic behaviors of the members of a speech community were based on orderly structures that each member of the community shared. On the other hand, historical-descriptive grammarians were picking language samples from individuals instead of from community speech patterns at large. The results of their research and studies varied greatly.
Structural linguistics has exceeded traditional grammar in several ways. It has allowed for more structural analysis of words and word formations, has allowed for the identification of phrasal verbs (a new class), has brought attention to analyzing and identifying helping verbs or modals, and has caused analysis of the English tense system which was previously ignored. Some structural linguists were able to discover structures and patterns in English which were buried in the language and were not previously noticed due to their lack of similarity to Latin. Some linguists also investigated various concepts in English grammar which had been studied previously only under the imposition of Latin grammar. These areas were probed using new terms and with a renewed spirit of open-mindedness.
Structural linguistics has been proven very useful in the analysis of the process of linguistic behavior. We now have a better way of learning how people acquire language and also how speakers communicate meaning to their listeners. This type of information is useful to teachers of English as a first or a second language and similar teachers of language around the world. It is also useful in understanding the way that different cultures communicate their intentions to each other, as well as communication which occurs within a single culture.
The addition of the discipline of structural linguists in the study of grammar has encouraged grammarians, teachers, students and scientists to pay more attention to key areas of grammar which have a profound effect on communication in today's world. It has resulted in studies which could not otherwise have been accomplished, the creation of models other disciplines can copy and utilize, and most of all, understanding about the mysterious structure and patterning of language.
Structural linguistics has contributed not only to the fields of grammar and English, but also to the field of its origin, anthropology. During the study of the previously mentioned native American languages, and also in other more recent language studies, traditional grammar structures which were previously utilized were simply not usable. In some languages that were being studied, noun endings were added to verb stems. Others had no real "words" in them; the concept of words and sentences as in Indo-European languages did not exist. Concrete terms like "noun", "verb" and "sentence" were abstract concepts in these families of languages. Using the ideas in structural linguistics, these languages can be analyzed according to their own grammatical structures and appreciated for their own merits. Therefore, languages we don't know or understand can be observed and described into terminology that we, as outsiders, can comprehend.
From an anthropological point of view, the idea of being able to understand languages from many families and analyze them on the basis of their structure certainly seems exciting. In a constantly changing world where new languages are discovered on almost a daily basis, the knowledge which structural linguists have provided us with can certainly change our perception of linguistically and culturally diverse peoples whom we will continue to interact with as our society becomes more global. Using the techniques taught in both traditional grammar and in structural linguistics, we can hope to be able to attach meaning and form to all the language structures we encounter and through it all, we can make all languages appreciated and respected for the wonders that they are; for within language lies communication, and within communication lies understanding of the world and the people around us.
Author: Amy Stafford