The organisation of language

A language, seen in more detail, is a system of signs, i.e. acoustic events and visual events or marks have meanings, are organised into a structure, and are used in communication. The science which deals with all kinds of signs is semiotics (probably the most well-known semiotician is Umberto Eco, professor of Semiotics in Bologna, the author of "The Name of the Rose"). Signs are generally held to have three main kinds of property, described in the following three subdisciplines of semiotics:

Syntax:

The form of signs, in particular the structure of complex signs such as sentences in natural languages.

Semantics:

The meaning of signs.

Pragmatics:

The use of signs in communication.

In linguistics and phonetics, more differentiation is needed, since language is a particularly complex sign system:

• The inventory of basic signs is the lexicon.
• The structure of signs is described by the grammar, consisting of the following three components:
  • The term syntax is generally used for the grammar of sentences.
  • The grammar (organisation) of words is dealt with in morphology.
  • The grammar (organisation) of speech sounds is dealt with in phonology, and aspects of the organisation of sounds in relation to larger units than speech sounds, such as words and sentences, is known as prosody.
  • The physical (and physiological) realisation of speech sounds is dealt with in phonetics.

In fact, there is more to the grammar of speech than this. The following hierarchy of units of different sizes (sometimes called ranks) can be identified:

DIALOGUE:

a complex communicative event between one or more participants.

EXCHANGE:

the basic organisational unit of dialogues.

TURN:

the basic contribution to an exchange.

SENTENCE:

the largest unit of grammar in the traditional sense.

WORD:

the smallest constituent of a sentence.

MORPHEME:

the smallest constituent of a word.

PHONEME:

the smallest units of speech, which encode morphemes.