The Difference Between Structuralism and Functionalism School

of Linguistics

The linguistic schools structuralism, formalism and functionalism are not as

homogenous as they are presented in the following text. Many philosophies,
grammars or seminars of linguists are put together as a mainstream in linguistics
because of their similarities. As a consequence of their diversity and complexity,
neither functionalism nor generative linguistics can be explained in detail.
The most influential school in linguistics of the twentieth century is of course
structuralism. This theory, founded by Ferdinand de Saussure, has been posthumously
published in Cours de linguistique generale (1916). Structuralism is that linguistic
phenomena are regarded “as systems or the product of systems” and not as
“collections of isolated items or in terms of their history”. Within the system of
language, the value (valeur) of each sign is determined by its place in this scheme.
Consequently, linguistic signs have no existence out of this structure and “every
language system needs to be considered by itself”.The way of studying a language
system is synchronic (contemplation of language at one specific point in time) and not
diachronic (contemplation of linguistic change through time), to make sure that just
one scheme of language is analyzed. Another primacy in structuralism is langue, the
set of rules of a language, in contrast to parole, the usage of a language by an
individual speaker. Due to this, it is possible for structuralists to describe the
regularities of a language.
Equally important is the model of the linguistic sign. According to Saussure, each
sign has two sides which cannot be separated: The signifier is the sound image of a
sign, whereas the signified is the concept of a sign. Both of them are connected by a
reciprocal relationship, which means that the sound image of a sign evokes its concept
and the other way around. Further, there is no motivated bond between signifier and
signified. In fact, the link between the two sides of a sign is “based on an agreement, a
kind of contract, as it were, between the members of a speech community”. This kind
of liaison is called relationship of arbitrariness and conventionality.
While structural linguistics rather deals with langue, functionalism wants to
explain how the concrete usage of a language in a given context shapes its structure,
and tries to describe the communicative aspects of a language. Therefore, language is
considered to be a “tool” with external functions (usage in communication) and
internal functions (various set of communicative functions).

A phenomenon of internal functions is organic embedding. In accordance to

Butler, it means that “morphosyntax of a language is motivated by the meanings that
it conveys”. In other words, a speaker of a given language has to make a choice
between structural options, which is determined by information he has given before or
which he might gives later within a conversation or a text. This leads to the
assumption that syntax is not considered as an autonomous branch of linguistics, but
as influenced by semantics and pragmatics. Another important feature of functional
linguistics is the idea of a motivated relationship between the concept and the sound
image of a sign, and that external functions shape the grammar of a language. As an
illustration, the concept of iconicity describes a motivated link or a similarity, which
can be found among the two sides of an onomatopoetic sign or cognitive and
structural difficulties.

Source : alphaomegatranslation.com