2. Based on the first document, do Exercise 1.4 in page 13.

You have six

phrases and you have to identify them to whom the phrases might belong,
“Attribute each of the…phrases to Ferdinand de Saussure, Noam Chomsky, or
Michael Halliday. What motivates, in each case, your response according to the
text? What does the quote tell you about their perspective on the study and
analysis of language?”

 If we could embrace the sum of word-images stored in the minds of all

individuals, we could identify the social bond that constitutes language. It
is a storehouse filled by the members of a given community through their
active use of speaking, a grammatical system that has a potential
existence in each brain, or, specifically, in the brains of a group of
individuals. For language is not complete in any speaker; it exists
perfectly only within a collectivity.’
This phrase is attributed to Ferdinand de Saussure
 It seems clear that we must regard linguistic competence – knowledge of
a language – as an abstract system underlying behavior, a system
constituted by rules that interact to determine the form and intrinsic
meaning of a potentially infinite number of sentences.’
This phrase is attributed to  Noam Chomsky
 ‘Every text – that is, everything that is said or written – unfolds in some
context of use; furthermore, it is the uses of language that, over tens of
thousands of generations, have shaped the system. Language has
evolved to satisfy human needs; and the way it is organized is functional
with respect to these needs
This phrase is attributed to Michael Halliday.
 Linguistic theory is concerned primarily with an ideal speaker-hearer, in a
completely homogeneous speech community, who knows its language
perfectly and is unaffected by such grammatically irrelevant conditions as
memory limitations, distractions, shifts of attention and interest, errors
(random or characteristic) in applying his knowledge of the language in
actual performance.’
This phrase is attributed to Noam Chomsky

 Language is a system of interdependent terms in which the value of each

term results solely from the simultaneous presence of the others … [for
example]. To determine what a five-franc piece is worth one most know:
(1) that it can be exchanged for a fixed quantity of a different thing, e.g.
 bread; and (2) that it can be compared with a similar value of the same
system, e.g. a one-franc piece, or with coins of another system (a dollar,
etc.). In the same way a word can be exchanged for something
dissimilar, an idea; besides, it can be compared with something of the
same nature, another word. Its value is therefore not fixed so long as one
simply states that it can be ‘exchanged’ for a given concept.’
This phrase is attributed to Michael Halliday.
 Spoken and written language, then, tend to display different KINDS of
complexity; each of them is more complex in its own way. Written
language tends to be lexically dense but grammatically simple; spoken
language tends to be grammatically intricate but lexically sparse’ … ‘The
value of having some explicit knowledge of the grammar of written
language is that you can use this knowledge, not only to analyze the
texts, but as a critical resource for asking questions about them.’
This phrase is attributed to Michael Halliday.
3. Based on the second text ‘Linguistics’ in “Bauer, Laurie; The Linguistic
Student's Handbook” Answer the following question: why is Linguistics definitely
considered a science? In your answer, involve the other language areas such
as semiotics, philology and literature.

I consider that there are good reasons to call linguistics a Science because just
like biological sciences, linguistics deals with observation and classification as
dimensioning natural phenomena. The phenomena to be classified by
linguistics are the sounds of speech, words, languages and ways of using
language to interact with the body, linguistics is the science of language,
linguistics defines as the science that studies the structure of the natural
languages and the knowledge that the speaker possesses of her.
4. In the following two questions you have to consult and then explain:
4.1 The concept of ‘double articulation’ is a classic one at identifying
language, please, explain it, and give examples.
4.2 Human language is different from other semiotic systems, explain at least
three characteristics, that according to Linguistics, are unique to human
language

4.1The concept of "double articulation" is a classic concept to identify the

language, please explain it and give examples. • In the field of Linguistics, the
term double articulation was introduced by André Martinet, it is a characteristic
common to all languages because every linguistic sign is articulated on two
levels that of meanings and signifiers referring to the way in which the one that
organizes the language, thus distinguishing between two levels: • • The first
level is made up of monemas or linguistic signs. Being the division of the
linguistic sign, minimum units with their own meaning. • • The second level is to
which the individual sounds that have no phoneme meaning belong.

Monemas It consists of signs with meaning and significance that are articulated
with other signs of the tongue to form a message. Example The + perr / o + jug /
aba + con + la + niñ / ita Phonemes These are meaningless units that articulate
with each other to form signs or words. Generally the languages have from 20
to 30 phonemes in Spanish there are 22 phonemes. Example E / l + p / e / r / ro
+j/u/g/a/b/a+c/o/n+l/a+n/i/ñ/i/t/a
Phonemes are emitted by sounds. In writing they are represented by letters. It
materializes through articulated sound. It is the basis of oral language. It
includes all the sound elements that can be distinguished in a language. Letter:
It is the graphic representation of the phoneme. In the Spanish alphabet, the
number of letters does not correspond to the number of phonemes. The
phoneme is the simplest element of the language: it has no meaning; It needs
to combine to form meaningful words. Examples: Phonemes: m, e, s, a
combined give the word: table.
4.2 The three characteristics that are unique to human language are these
 The double articulation of language refers to the procedure that the human
being performs unconsciously. The first articulation refers to the monemas or
morphemes and the decoding carried out to understand a message.
The second articulation comprises the decomposition of the monemas into their
constituent phonemes.
 The double articulation is an aspect of the linguistic articulation consisting of
the emission of meaningful signs (words or sentences) by means of the
emission of units that in themselves lack meaning.

The productivity
 It is a characteristic of language. It means that, from an always limited number
of words in a language, the speaker is able to produce or formulate an infinite
number of sentences when combined according to the rules of grammar. Ability
of speakers of a language to build and understand an indefinitely large number
of sentences in our native language, including sentences that we have never
heard before. We use this ability instinctively and without reflection, without
consciously applying grammar rules. The term is also used in a more restrictive
sense as a reference to the use that a language makes of a specific aspect or
pattern. This term is related to compositionality in the sense that from simpler
units we can combine and create infinite structures.
Displacement
 With language we are able to refer to distant concepts and events in the space-
time planes, consequently, we can communicate about elements that are not
present either temporarily or spatially. Silence implies a here and now, so there
cannot be spacetime displacement in it.

References:
 McCabe, A. (2011). An Introduction to Linguistics and Language Studies.
London: Equinox Publishing Ltd. Retrieved
from http://bibliotecavirtual.unad.edu.co/login?
url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=547849&lang=es&site=eds-live&scope=site
Vidal M. Victoria The language and the linguistics. Retrieved
from https://www.cerasa.es/media/areces/files/book-attachment-2704.pdf