SURIGAO STATE COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

Surigao City
GRADUATE SCHOOL

Name: Lourdes E. Ferol

Course Code/Description: MAEd-English
Professor: Dr. Carmelin P. Mosa

Structuralism (F. Saussure), Transformational Grammar,

Stratificational Grammar, and Linguistic Determinism

Grammar is essential to learn because it is the strength to every language that we use.
Having a good grammar can help us to become a better speaker and writer. It can also help us
to adjust our words into understandable and meaningful sentences in oral and written.
According to David Crystal, grammar is the structural foundation of our ability to express
ourselves. The more we are aware of how it works, the more we can monitor the meaning and
effectiveness of the way we and others use language. Therefore, we should master the
different theories of grammar. Let us recognize these four concepts which are included to the
linguistic theories.

The first theory is Structuralism by Ferdinand de Saussure. It is a method that is

consisted of the study of phonology principal, structural, and historical linguistics. Saussure
believed that language is an organized system and we must know the difference of langue as
it is an individual language and parole as it is the individual act of communication.

The second theory is the Transformational grammar or transformational-generative

grammar. It indicates the relationship among the various elements of a sentence and among
the possible sentences of a language and uses processes or rules. In 20th century, the most
important progress in linguistic theory was the rise of transformational grammar which had
two versions. The First version is by Zellig S. Harris and the second by Noam Chomsky.

The third theory is Stratificational grammar which was developed by the Sydney M.
Lamb who is a U.S. linguist. It is viewed as a network of relationships and linguistic structure
that is considered to be made up of several structural layers or strata. There are four strata that
have been formed, these are the sememic which constitutes semology of the language, the
lexemic and the morphemic that constitute the grammar, and the phonemic strata that
constitutes the phonology.

The fourth and last theory is the Linguistic determinism, it introduced by Edward
Sapir and expanded by Benjamin Lee Worf. They believed that language and its structures
limit and determine human knowledge or thought like the categorization, memory, and
perception. It indicates that our native languages will affect our thought process.