D. V. Demidov

PAR T I. LECTURE MATERIAL 
Module 1 
Topic 1. The Scope of Theoretical Grammar.
Basic Linguistic Notions. 
Questions for Discussion:  
1. Language as a semiotic system: its functions, elements 
and structure. 
2. Lingual elements (units) as signs, their levels, structural 
and functional features.
3. Language and Speech.
4. Paradigmatic and syntagmatic relations between 
language units. 
5. Interrelation of Theoretical Grammar with other branches 
of linguistics.
1. Language as a semiotic system: its functions, 
elements and structure. 
Language is a multifaceted, complex phenomenon which 
can be studied and described from various points of view: as a 
psychological or cognitive phenomenon, as a social phenomenon, 
from the point of view of its historic changes, etc. But first and 
foremost language is treated as a semiotic system (system of 
signs).
A system is a structured set of elements united by a 
common 
function. 
Language 
is a system of specific 
interconnected and interdependent lingual signs united by their 
common function of forming, storing and exchanging ideas in the 
process of human intercourse. 
As a system, language is subdivided into three basic 
subsystems, each of which is a system in its own turn. They are 

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the phonological, lexical and grammatical systems. The 
phonological system includes the mate rial units of which language 
is made up: sounds, phonemes, different intonation models, and 
accent models. The phonological system of language is studied by 
a separate branch of linguistics called phonology. The lexical 
system includes all the nominative (naming) means of language – 
words and stable word-combinations. The lexical system is 
studied by lexicology. The grammatical system includes the rules 
and regularities of using lingual units in the construction of 
utterances in the process of human communication. The 
grammatical system is described by grammar as a branch of 
linguistics.
Each sub-system distinguishes not only its own set of 
elements, but its own structural organization. For example, within 
the grammatical system we single out parts of speech and 
sentence patterns. The parts of speech are further subdivided into 
nouns, verbs, adjective, adverbs, functional parts of speech; this 
subdivision of grammar is known as morphology. Sentences are 
further subdivided into simple and composite: composite
sentences are subdivided into complex and compound, etc.; this 
subdivision of grammar is known as syntax.
The foundations of systemic language description were 
formulated at the turn of the 20th century in the works of many 
linguists, among them the Russian linguists I. A. Baudoin de 
Courtenay, A. A. Potebnya and others. The originator of the 
systemic approach in linguistics is considered to be a Swiss 
scholar Ferdinand de Saussure. He was the first to divide the 
phenomenon of language in general (in Frenc h: ‗language‘) into 
two sides: an ‗executive‘ side (‗parole‘), concerned with the 
production, transmission, and reception of speech, and an 
underlying language system (‗langue‘). This is one of the basic 
postulates of modern systemic linguistics: language in general 

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comprises two aspects: the system of special lingual units and 
the use of these units. In other words, language in the narrow 
sense of the term is a system of means of expression, while 
speech is the manifestation of the system of language in the 
process of intercourse. The system of language comprises the 
body of lingual units and the rules of their use, while speech 
includes the act of producing utterances and the result of it (the 
utterances themselves, or the text).
Other terms are used in linguistics by different authors to 
denote the two basic aspects of language (which, however, do not 
always coincide with the ‗language – speech‘ dichotomy): 
‗language 
competence‘ 
and 
‗language 
performance‘ 
(N. Chomsky) [17], ‗linguistic schema‘ – ‗linguistic usage‘, 
‗linguistic system‘ – ‗linguistic process‘ (‗text‘) (L. Hjelmslev), 
‗code‘ – ‗message‘ (R. Jacobson), etc. Still, the terms ‗language‘ 
and ‗speech‘ are the most widely used. 
Ferdinand de Saussure was also among the first scholars 
who defined lingual units as specific signs – bilateral (two-sided) 
units that have both form and meaning. Ferdinand de Saussure 
spoke about an indissoluble link between a phonetic ‗signifier‘ 
(French: ‗signifiant‘), and a ‗signified‘ (‗signifie‘). In the system 
of language, a lingual sign has only a potential meaning; in 
speech, in the process of communication, this potential meaning is 
―actualized‖, connected with a particular referent. That is why a 
lingual sign is graphically presented in the form of a triangle, 
including the material form, the meaning and the referent. For 
example, the word ‗elephant‘ is a sign, consisting of a signifier, or 
form – the sequence of phonemes (or, in written presentation, of 
letters), and a signified, or meaning – the image of the animal in 
our mind; the referent is the ‗real‘ animal in the outside world, 
which may or may not be physically present.

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