Features of linguistic signs.

They were formulated by Saussure:

1) The link between signifier and signified is arbitrary (условная).

2) The nature of signifier is linear (линейная). It means that its elements are presented in the form of a chain.

3) Immutability (неизменяемость) and mutability (изменяемость) at the same time.

Immutability – the signifier is fixed, not free with respect to the linguistic community that uses it.

Mutability – in the cause of time there can take place a shift in the relationship between the signifier and the signified. Language never exists apart from society and it changes together with it.

4) Linguistic signs are natural because languages are the only natural systems of communication.

Laws of linguistic signs.

1) The signifier and the signified are closely related (Saussure).

2) The law of double division (A. Martinet, Hjelmslev).

The first division of the sign (A. Martinet): signs can be simple and complex. Complex signs can be subdivided into simples, each of which has its own signifier and signified. F.e. writing table.

The second division of the sign (Hjelmslev): both signifier and signified can be subdivided into the smallest elementary units. The signifier can be subdivided into phonemes. The signified can be subdivided into semes. F.e. mother – female, parent, adult. This elementary units Hjelmslev called figures. Phonemes are figures of the plain of expression, and semes are figures of the plain of content.

3) The main law of the sign / the law of sign conversion (С.О. Карцевский): There is no one to one correspondents between the signifier and the signified. – Нет одно-однозначного соответствия между означающим и означаемым. This law can be illustrated by cases of homonymy, synonymy and polysemy.

Cases of homonymy: топить лёд – топить печку – топить котят. The plain of expression is the same, the plain of the content is different.

Cases of synonymy: бегемот – гиппопотам. The plain of expression is different, the plain of the content is the same.

Cases of polysemy: выйти из леса – выйти из народа – выйти из затруднительного положения. The plain of expression is the same, the plain of the content is different, but united by a common idea.

Asymmetric dualism of the linguistic sign is an advantage of a natural language, because it allows the language to develop and each time get adjusted to the situation of communication.

The meaning of the word.

Lexicology has a special branch which studies the meaning of the word. It is called semasiology.

It is very difficult to define meaning. There are three main approaches to meaning:

1) functional approach

1.1 The meaning if the word is its use in the language (Wittgenstein).

1.2 In absolute isolation no sign has any meaning. It is only with the communicative function of the language that assign system begins to operate (Hjelmslev).

1.3 The meaning of the utterance is the whole situation in which the speaker pronounces it and receives a response from the hearer (Bloomfield).

2) psycholinguistic approach. It was developed by Sapir, Выготский and Saussure.

2.1 Sapir: He spoke about the link between thinking and speaking. The meaning of the word presents such a close amalgam of thought and language, that it is hard to say whether it is a phenomenon of speech or a phenomenon of thought. Thought is not just expressed in words, it comes into existence through them.

2.2 Saussure used the analogy of a sheet of paper whose two sides are parts of one whole. One side is thought and the other side is sound. In a language we can neither divide sound from thought, not thought from sound. Linguistics operates on the border line where the elements of thoughts and sounds combine.

3) referential approach. The characteristic of this approach is that It distinguishes between the three components closely connected with meaning: the sound form of the linguistic sign, the concept and the referent. The referent is the object of reality to which the linguistic sign refers.

Semiotic triangle:

We are able to use words in speech only when this triangle is formed in our mind.

One of the lines is dotted because there is no direct link between the word and its referent.

This links is only establish meaning.

According to this point of view, the meaning is a correlation between a sound form of a word, the underlying concept and the object it denotes. Meaning is not identical with any of the points of the triangle, but is closely connected with them.