36 Majalah IlmiahAL-RIBA'ATH LPPM UMP: Vol.2 No.1 JanuaTi 2005_

UNDERSTANDING LANGUAGE AND LINGUISTICS

IKHSANUDlN

Deputy Rector I Muhammadiyah University ofPontianak

Language has been used since human civilization started has been studied at least since Plato wrote Craty/us. Yet, the scienfific study oflanguage - linguistics - has not get as much as attention as other old fields of study. In this short paper, the writer di his best to introduce it in non liguistics publication. It covers definition of linguistics, properties of language, language behavour and language system, language as a subject, functions of language, animal communication, three dichotomies in linguistics, functions of linguistics, linguistics and grammar, scope of linguistics, and materials and duties of linguistics. By exposing this writing, it is expected that linguistics will be much more widely understood than ever before.

linguistics, literature, history,1. Prologue

anthropology, archeology, and law. Linguistics is the scientific study

It is clear that linguistics IS of language. Science itself is a

SCIence under category of human systematized knowledge derives from

SCIence. In this case, linguistics needs observation, study, and

lots of interpretation processes in its experimentation carried in order to

researches, just like other SCIences determine the nature or principles of

under the same category. what is being studied (Montagu

As a scientific study linguistics 1959:129). In the philosophy of

has three characteristics: explicit, science, there are three categories of

systematic, and objective. The word science: natural science, social science,

"explicit" has some synonyms, and human science. Some examples of

namely: clear, specific, categorical, the member of natural sciences or hard

sure, clean-cut, plain, clear-cut, and SCIences category are: physics,

defmite. So, an explicit study should chemistry, and biology. Some

be neither blurred, hidden, nor implicit. examples of the member of social

Systematic means methodical, SCIences are: psychology and

efficient, exact, orderly, well-economics. There are at least seven

organized, precise, businesslike, and members of human sciences or soft

regular. Objective means impartial, SCIences, namely: philosophy,

fair, detached, impersonal, unbiased,

and unprejudiced. Then, language is

37 Majalah Ilmiah AL-RIBA'ATH LPPM UMP: VoU No.1 JanuaTi 2005.

the focus of linguistic studies. The

definition of language can be found in

chapter B.

People have been concerned with

studying language for a very long time.

Linguistics IS mentioned 111 the

dialogues of Plato (c. 427-346 Be) and

in Roman writings (Johnson 2006).

The word linguistics was first

used in the middle of the 19th century.

It was used to emphasize the difference

between a newer approach to the study

of language that was then developing

(linguistics itself) and the more

traditional approach of philology. The

differences were and are largely

matters of attitude, emphasis, and

purpose. The philologist is concerned

primarily with the historical

development of languages, as it is

manifest in written texts and in the

context of the associated literature and

culture. The linguist, though he may be

interested in written texts and in the

development of languages through

time, tends to give priority to spoken

languages and to the problems of

analyzing them as they operate at a

given point in time.

2. Language

In some languages there are two

word to translate the English word

'language', examples: in French

'Iangage' and 'Langue", in Italian

. (11l

--

-------------38 Majalah ILmiah AL-RIBA'ATH LPPM UMP; Vo!.2 No.1 Januari 2005.

4) Language is "a system of arbitrary

vocal symbols used for human

communication" (Wardaugh 1972:3)

5) "Language is a purely human and

non-instinctive method of

communicating ideas, emotions and

desires by means of voluntarily

produced symbols". (Sapir 1921:8)

6) Language IS "the institution

whereby humans communicate and

interact with each other by means of

habitually used oral-auditory arbitrary

symbols". (Hall 1968: 158)

7) "From now on I will consider a

language to be a set (finite or infinite)

of sentences, each finite in length and

constructed out of a finite set of

elements." (Chomsky 1957:13)

3. Properties of Language

Highlight that can be taken from

those definitions is that language has

some properties as: system, arbitrary,

vocal, symbol, convention,

communication, culture, and social

groups.

a. Language as a system

A system is a set of objects or

entities that interrelate with one

another to form a whole (Littlejohn

1992:40). There are two kinds of

system: closed system and open

system. A closed system has no

interchange with its environment. It

moves toward progressive internal

chaos (entropy). disintegration. and

death. TIle closed-system model most

often applies to physical system like

stars, which do not have self-sustaining

qualities. An open-system receives

matter and energy to its environment.

The open system is oriented toward

life and growth. Biological,

psychological, and social systems

follow an open model. General system

theory deals with system primarily

from this open perspective.

Language is included in the open

model. It has lots of entities that

interrelate one another in it and it

cannot be separated from other systems

surrounding it. Examples of entities it

has are: phones, phonemes,

morphemes, syntax, and meanings.

Language itself exists among a great

number of other systems, such as

social system, political system, and

communication system.

b. Arbitrariness

Language is arbitrary. It means,

there is no link whatsoever between

the signal and the message. The

symbols used are arbitrary. There is no

intrinsic connection, for example,

between the word elephant and the

animal it symbolizes. Nor is the phrase

39 Majalah llmiah AL·RlBA 'ATHLPPM UMP: VoU No.1 }anuari 2005.

'These bananas are bad' intrinsically

connected with rood. Onomatopoeic

words such as quack-quack and bang

are exceptions-but there are relatively

few of these compared with the total

number of words. Language IS

arbitrary since there is no dependence

of element of the signal on the nature

of reality to which it refers.

c. Vocal

Language is vocal. It means, in

linguistics we study only the sounds

produced by human vocal organs. Any

other forms of communication are

excluded from linguistics. So, we do

not study Semaphore, Morse, and so

forth.

d. Symbol

Symbol is a part of sign. Every

thing which has a signifier and

signified can be called sign. There are

three kinds of sign: icon, index, and

symbol. Charles Sanders Peirce's - an

American scientist, logician, and

philosopher who is noted for his work

on the logic of relations and on

pragmatism as a method of research

seminal work in the field was anchored

in pragmatism and logic. He defined a

sign as "something which stands to

somebody for something," and one of

his major contributions to semiotics

was the categorization of signs into

three mam types (I) all 1\.·,'11 \\ lu.h

resembles its referent (such as a road

sign for falling rocks); (2) an index,

which is associated with its referent (as

smoke is a sign of fire); and (3) a

symbol, which is related to its referent

only by convention (as with words or

traffic signals). Peirce also

demonstrated that a SIgn can never

have a definite meaning, for the

meaning must be continuously

qualified

Saussure treated language as a

sign-system, and his work III

linguistics has supplied the concepts

and methods that semioticians apply to

sign-systems other than language. One

such basic semiotic concept IS

Saussure's distinction between the two

inseparable components of a sign: the

signifier, which in language is a set of

speech sounds or marks on a page, and

the signified, which is the concept or

idea behind the sign. Saussure also

distinguished parole, or actual

individual utterances, from langue, the

underlying system of conventions that

makes such utterances understandable;

it is this underlying langue that most

interests semioticians.

This interest in the structure

behind the use of particular signs links

semiotics with the methods of

40 Majalah IlmiahAL-RIBA'ATH LPPM UMP: VoU

structuralism, which seeks to analyze

these relations. Saussure's theories are

thus also considered fundamental to

structuralism (especially structural

linguistics) and to poststructuralism.

Modern semioticians have applied

Peirce and Saussure's principles to a

variety of fields, including aesthetics,

anthropology, psychoanalysis,

communications, and semantics.

e. Convention

Convention IS any unwritten

agreement or rules that exists in a

society. Since language consists of

(arbitral)') symbols, it needs a

convention on anything in the

language. Without convention the

language cannot be used by the speech

community.

f. Communication

One among many other

definitions of communication says

"communication IS the verbal

interchange of a thought or idea". In

this case, language plays very

important role in a communication.

Without language the verbal

interchange of thought or idea cannot

be done. In the other word, language

here IS the mam apparatus of

communication.

No.1 Januari 2005.

g. Culture

III tile (lcertz' s (19n ) idea

culture is a symbolic meaning system.

It is a bit different from Goodenough's

(1971) idea that culture is an idealized

cognitive system-a system of

knowledge, beliefs, and values-that

exists in the mind of individual

member of society. It is an ideational

order of reality. Whatever definition

we use in understanding culture,

language cannot be separated from it.

Language is the symbol itself and

exists in the mind of individual

member of the related society.

h. Social groups

A language is used by the related

social group. Any member of any

social group can use their language

very well. They can express their

emotion, feelings, beliefs and so forth

using language.

4. Language-Behavior and

Language-System

In our communication we use

language (either the 'langage ' or

'langue') in the form of behavior. We

call such behavior as language

behavior. It is opposed to language

system. "A language-system is a social

phenomenon, or institution, which of

itself is purely abstract, in that it has no

41 ~------~ ,----

Maj~lahHmiahAL1UB;VATHLPPMUMP: Vol.2 No.1 JanuaTi 200~ __

phisical existence, but which IS

actualized on particular occasions In

the language-behaviour of individual

members of the language-community"

(Lyons 1981). For Saussure, in the

level of system, 'langue' any particular

language that IS the common

possession of all members of a given

language-community. In the level of

behavior, 'parole' IS individual,

variable, and changeable speech

behavior. It of course may consist of

new things time-to-time. It is really

unlimited in numbers and never be

collective representations,

Another distinction related to

them is Chomsky's distinction of

linguistic-competence and linguistic

performance. It is Chomsky's believe

that every individual has the same

system of language located in the

language processmg mechanism. In

learning a language, every individual

has a language acquisition device

(LAD). Based on that believe his

concept is in the level of individual.

For him, linguistic-competence is the

typical speaker's knowledge of

language-system. It IS can be

actualized in the form of linguistic

performance, which IS typical

individuals' linguistic-behavior.

5. Language as a Subject

:\ number \11" considc. ;1111 lih L'llk'l

into a proper understanding of

language as a subject:

I) Every physiologically and mentally

normal person acquires in childhood

the ability to make use, as both speaker

and hearer, of a system of vocal

communication that comprises a

circwnscribed (defined) set of noises

resulting from movements of certain

organs within his throat and mouth. By

means of these he is able to impart

(convey) information, to express

feelings and emotions, to influence the

activities of others, and to comport

himself (to behave) with varying

degrees of friendliness or hostility

toward persons who make use of

substantially the same set ofnoises.

2) Different systems of vocal

communication constitute different

languages; the degree of difference

needed to establish a different

language cannot be stated exactly. No

two people speak exactly alike; hence,

one is able to recognize the voices of

friends over the telephone and to keep

distinct a number of unseen speakers in

a radio broadcast. Yet, clearly, no one

would say that they speak different

languages. Generally, systems of vocal

communication are recognized as

42 Majalah Ilmiah AL·RIBA'ATH LPPM UMP: VoU

different languages if they cannot be

understood without specific learning

by both parties, though the precise

limits of mutual intelligibility are hard

to draw and belong on a scale rather

than on either side of a definite

dividing line. Substantially different

systems of communication that may

impede but do not prevent mutual

comprehension are called dialects of a

language. In order to describe in detail

the actual different speech patterns of

individuals, the term idiolect, meaning,

the speech habits of a single person,

has been coined.

3) Normally, people acquire a single

language initially--their first language,

or mother tongue, the language spoken

by their parents or by those with whom

they are brought up from infancy.

Subsequent "second" languages are

learned to different degrees of

competence under various conditions,

but the majority of the world's

population remams largely

monolingual. Complete mastery of two

languages IS designated as

bilingualism; in a few special cases-

such as upbringing by parents speaking

different languages at home--speakers

grow up as bilinguals, but ordinarily

the learning, to any extent, of a second

or other language is an activity

superimposed on the prior mastery of

No.1 Januari 2005.

one's first language and is a different

process intcllcctuall,

4) Language, as described above. is

species-specific to man. Other

members of the animal kingdom have

the ability to communicate, through

vocal noises or by other means, but the

most important single feature

characterizing human language (that is,

every individual language), against

every known mode of animal

communication, IS its infinite

productivity and creativity. Human

beings are unrestricted in what they

can talk about; no area ofexperience is

accepted as necessarily

incommunicable, though it may be

necessary to adapt one's language in

order to cope with new discoveries or

new modes ofthought.

6. Functions of Language

According to M.AK Halliday

(1985), there are three functions of

language. Those are: ideational

function, interpersonal function, and

textual function. Ideational function of

a language means a language is used to

understand the environment.

Interpersonal function of a language

means a language is used to act on the

others in it. Last, textual function of a

language breathes relevance into the

other two.

44 Majalah llmiah AL·RIBA'ATH LPPM UMP; VoLl No.1 Januari 2005.

without reference to their social

tuucuou to the manner ill which they

arc acquired by children, to the

psychological mechanisms that

underlie the production and reception

of speech, to the literary and the

aesthetic or communicative function of

language, and so on, In contrast,

macrolinguistics embraces all of these

aspects of language. Various areas

within macrolinguistics have been

given terminological recognition:

psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, ,

anthropological linguistics,

dialectology, mathematical and

computational linguistics, and

stylistics, Macrolinguistics should not

be identified with applied linguistics.

The application of linguistic methods

and concepts to language teaching may

well involve other disciplines in a way

that microlinguistics does not But

there is, m principle, a theoretical

aspect to every part of

macrolinguistics, no less than to

microlinguistics. Microlinguistics and

macrolinguistics, however, are not yet

well established, and they are, in fact,

used here purely for convenience.

8. Functions of Linguistics

Every science is developed for

certain purposes or functions. At least

there are three important functions of

linguistics, namely: descriptive and

explanative function, predictive and

developmental function, and control

function.

In the Saussure's idea' linguistic

problems are interesting to those

whose works are dealing with texts',

such as historians and philologists.

More clearly, there is nothing more

important than language in the life of

society and individuals of any culture

in general. It is untrue that language

works are only done by some experts.

Every body works with language.

9. How does linguistics differ from

traditional grammar?

One frequently meets people who

think that linguistics is old school

grammar jazzed up with a few new

names. But it differs in several basic

ways.

First, and most important,

linguistics IS descriptive not

prescriptive. Linguists are interested

in what is said, not what they think

ought to be said. They describe

1 He explained this in the opening of the third lecture in October zs", 1910 di Jenewa See Ferdinand d Saussure. 1973. Cours de Linguistique Genera/e. Paris: Payot. Trans. By Rahayu S. Hidayat. Pp. 70-72.

2 Text, in this case, is not mereley passage or written materials. Text, can be simply understood as any interpretable things. It is usually related and opposed to discourse.

45 Majalah Ilmiah AL·RlBA 'ATH LPPM UMP: VoU No.1

language in all its aspects, but do not

A second important way in which

linguistics differs from traditional

school grammar is that linguists regard

the spoken language as primary, not

the written. In the past, grammanans

have overstressed the importance of

the written word, partly because of its

permanence. It was difficult to cope

with fleeting utterances before the

invention of sound recording. The

traditional classical education was

Alps partly to blame. People insisted

on molding language in accordance

with the usage of the ' best authors' of

classical times, and these authors

existed only in written form. This

attitude began as far back as the 2nd

century B.c. when scholars ill Alexandria took the authors of 5th

century Greece as their models.

This belief in the superiority of

the written word has continued for

over two millennia.

But linguists look first at the

spoken word, which preceded the

written everywhere in the world, as far

as we know. Moreover, most writing

systems are derived from the vocal

sounds. Although spoken utterances

and written sentences share many

common features, they also exhibit

considerable differences. Linguists

Jantulri 2005.

therefore regard spoken and written

forms as belonging to different. though

overlapping systems, which must be

analyzed separately: the spoken first,

then the written.

A third way in which linguistics

differs from traditional grammar

studies is that it does not force

language into Latin based-framework

In the past, many traditional text books

have assumed unquestioningly that

Latin provides a universal framework

into which all languages fit, and

countless schoolchildren have been

confused by meaningless attempts to

force English into foreign patterns. It is

sometimes claimed, for example, that a

phrase such as for John is in the 'dative

case'. But this is blatantly untrue, since

English does not have a Latin-type

case system. At other times, the

influence of the Latin framework is

more subtle, and so more misleading.

Many people have wrongly come to

regard certain Latin categories as being

'natural' ones. For example, it is

commonly assumed that the Latin

tense divisions of past, present and

future are inevitable. Yet one

frequently meets languages which do

not make this neat threefold

distinction. In some languages, it is

more important to express the duration

of an action-whether it is a single act

--- -- -------

-------46 MajalahUmiah ALRIBA'ATH LPPM UMP: Vol.2 No.1 JanlUlTi 2005.

the action in time.

Iu addition, judgments on certain

constructions often turn out to have a

Latin origin. For example, people

frequently argue that 'good English'

avoids 'split infinitives' as in the

phrase to humbly apologize, where the

infinitive to apologize is 'split' by

humbly. A letter to the London

Evening Standard is typical of many:

'Do split infinitives madden your

readers as much as they do me?' asks

the correspondent. .Can I perhaps ask

that, at least, judges and editors make

an effort to maintain the form of our

language?' The idea that a split

infinitive is wrong is based on Latin.

Purists insist that, because a Latin

infinitive is only one word, its English

equivalent must be as near to one word

as possible. To linguists, it's

unthinkable to judge a language by

standard of another. Since split

infinitive is only occur frequently in

English, they are as correct' as unsplit

ones.

In brief, linguists are opposed to

the notion that anyone language can

provide an adequate framework for all

the others. They are trying to set up a

universal framework. And there is no

reason why this should resemble the

grammar of Latin, or the grammar of

any other language arbitrarily selected

from the thousands spoken by humans.

to. What is Grammar?

Very generally, grammar IS

concerned with the relations between

words in sentences. Classes of words,

or parts of speech, as they are often

called, are distinguished because they

occupy different places in sentence

structure, and in most languages some

of them appear in different forms

according to their function (English

"man," "men"; "walk," "walked"; "I,"

"me"; and so on). Languages differ in

the extent to which word-form

variation IS used in their grammar;

Classical Chinese had almost none,

English does not have much, and Latin

and Greek had quite a lot. Conversely,

English makes much more use of word

order in grammar than did Latin or

Greek.

Traditionally, grammar has been

divided into syntax and morphology,

syntax dealing with the relations

between words in sentence structure,

morphology with the internal

grammatical structure of words. The

relation between "boy" and "boys" and

the relationship (irregular) between

"man" and "men" would be part of

morphology; the relation of concord

between "the boy [or "man"] is here"

47 Majalah Ilmiah AL·RlBA'ATH LPPM UMP: VoU No.1 JanuaTi 2005.

and "the boys [or "men"] are here"

would be part of syntax. lt must.

however, be emphasized that the

distinction between the two is not as

clear-cut as this brief illustration might

suggest. This is a matter for debate

among linguists of different

persuasions; some would deny the

relevance of distinguishing

morphology from syntax at all,

referring to grammatical structure as a

whole under the term syntax.

Grammar is different from

phonology, though the word grammar

is often used comprehensively to cover

both aspects of language structure.

Categories such as plural, past tense,

and genitive case are not phonological

categories. In spoken language they

are, like everything else, expressed in

speech sounds, but within a language

these may be very different for one and

the same category. In English noun

plurals, the added -S in "cats," the

vowel changes in "man, men" and in

"goose, geese; " and the -en ill."oxen "

are quite different phonologically; so

are the past-tense fonnatives such as

ed in "guarded," -t in "burnt," vowel

change in "take, took," and vowel and

consonant change in "bring, brought."

In Latin the genitive case can be

represented in singular nouns by -i, -is,

-ae, -Ll S, and -el. The phonological

di tfercncc docs 111.)\ matter. pI,!\ i,led

only that the category distinction is

somehow expressed.

The same is true of the

orthographic representation of

grammatical differences, and the

examples just given illustrate both

cases. This is why the grammar of

written language can be dealt with

separately. In the case of dead

languages, known with certainty only

in their written forms, this must

necessarily be done; insofar as the

somewhat different grammar of their

spoken forms made use of sound

features not represented in writing

(e.g., stress differences), this can, at

best, only be inferred or reconstructed.

Grammatical forms and

grammatical structures are part of the

communicative apparatus of

languages, and along with vocabulary,

or lexicon (the stock of individual

words in a language), they serve to

express all the meanings required.

Spoken language has, in addition,

resources such as emphatic stressing

and intonation. This is not to say,

however, that grammatical categories

can be everywhere directly related to

specific meanings. Plural and past

tense are fairly clear as regards

48 ~- ------ ------------------

Majalah llmiahAL·RIBA'ATH LPPM UMP: Vol.2 No.1

meaning in English. but even here

there arc difficulties: in "if [ knew his

address I would tell you," the past

tense form "knew" refers not to the

past but to an unfulfilled condition in

the present. In some other languages

greater problems arise. The gender

distinctions of French, German, and

Latin are very much part of the

grammar of these languages, but only

in a small number of words do

masculine, feminine, and neuter

genders correspond with differences of

sex, or with any other category of

meanmg in relation to the external

world

11. The scope of linguistics

a. Linguistics and the Surrounding

Fields of Study

It is Saussure's opmion (1973)

that linguistics has very close relations

to other fields of study. Sometimes

linguistics supplies data and sometimes

it borrows. The demarcations between

linguistics and other fields of study are

not quite obvious. Example, linguistics

should be clearly separated from

ethnography and prehistory, in which

langue contributes only as a document.

It should be separated from

anthropology, as well, that studies

human on the varieties while langue is

Januari 2005.

a social facts. Then, some questions

ansc Should linguistics be integrated

(0 sociology? In what ways are

linguistics related to social

psychology? Basically, all the

psychological phenomena are related

to langue, including the uncovering the

materials and the mechanisms, such as

the sound changes. Since linguistics

supplies valuable data to social

psychology, why should not

psycholinguistics be a part of social

psychology?

The relation between linguistics

and physiology is not too complicated

to elaborate. It is unilateral relation. It

means, the study of langue needs

sound physiological explanation but it

does not contribute any thing to

physiology.

In addition, philology is obviously

different from linguistics although

there are some matching points

between both study and the mutual

cooperation between them.

b. Scope of Linguistics

Linguistics consists of a wide

range of topics and its boundaries are

not easy to define. A diagram in the

shape of a wheel below (Fig. 1) may

give a rough description of the range

covered (Aitchison 1999 and Johnson

2006)

49 Majalah Ilmiah AL·RIBA 'ATH LPPM UMP: Vo1.2 No.1 .1anuari 2005.

ln the very centre of the wheel is

speech sounds. In order to be able to

describe language system and its

realization, a good knowledge of

phonetics is useful for a linguist. Yet, it

IS a basic background linguistic

knowledge, rather than a part of

linguistics itself

Most phoneticians are concerned

with the raw material out of which

language is made or the actual physical

sounds. In this area, they study the

position of the tongue, teeth, and vocal

cords during the production of sounds,

and record and analyzed sound waves.

On the other hand, linguists are more

concerned with the way in which

language is patterned. They analyze

the

50 MajaLah l!miahALRIBA'ATH LPPM UMP: Vol.2

Although phonetics and

linguistics are often referred t,1

together as 'the linguistic sciences'.

phonetics is not as central to general

linguistics as the study of language

patterning.

In Fig. 1, phonetics area is

surrounded by phonology area (sound

patterning), then phonology area is

surrounded by syntax area. TIle term

'syntax', used in its broadest sense,

refers to both the arrangement of

words and their forms. It is that part of,

language which links together the

sound patterns and the meaning.

Semantics area (meaning) IS

placed outside syntax area. So,

phonology, syntax and semantics are

the 'bread and butter' of linguistics.

Together they constitute the grammar

ofa language.

The central grammatical areas are

covered by pragmatics area, which

deals with how speakers use language

in ways which cannot be predicted

from linguistic knowledge alone. This

relatively new and fast expanding topic

is connected to both with semantics

and with the various branches of

linguistics which link language with

the external world: psycholinguistics

(the study of language and mind),

sociolinguistics (the study of language

and society), applied linguistics (the

No.1 JanUilTi 2005.

application of linguistics to language

teaching l. computational linguistics

(the lise of computers to simulate

language and its workings), stylistics

(the study of language and literature),

anthropological linguistics (the study

of language in cross-cultural settings),

philosophical linguistics (the link

between language and logical thought).

These various branches overlap

to some extent, so are complicated to

defme precisely. Psycholinguistics and

sociolinguistics are perhaps the ones

which have expanded fastest recently.

12. Materials and Duties

In the opening of the third lecture

28th m October , 1910 Ferdinand de

Saussure addressed four important

things about linguistics, namely: the

materials of linguistics, the duties of

linguistics, its Relation to Other

Surrounding Field of Study, and its

functions. The functions of linguistics

is presented in the second paragraph of

section 8 and the relations of

linguistics to other fields of study is

presented in section II.a ofthis paper.

The material of linguistics is

formed firstly by all the expressions of

human langue, no matter whatever the

language is: the language of civilized

society, uncivilized society, proto

language, or classical language. It

51 Majalah IlmiahAL·RIBA 'ATH LPPM UMP: VoU No.1 Januari 2005.

takes into account every expression,

not merclv taking into account tile

correct and the beautiful expression.

However, making a study of langue is

so difficult that linguists usually take

into account only the written texts. It is

done due to taking into account such

expression can help them recognizing

idioms that appeared in the past or in

the other places.

At least, there are three duties of

linguistics. Those are: (1) describing

and reconstructing the history of, if

possible, all langue and the mother of

langue of every aggregation; (2)

finding out the most powerful,

universal, and important factor in

every langue and extracting the

general rules and can be used as the

standard of any phenomenon in history

from them; and (3) defining and

formulating itself.

13. Epilogue

Since the study of linguistics

covers a wide range of topics and has

close connections with the

development of human civilization, it

IS very important to note that

linguistics may have very important

role in human live development.

Consequently, linguists must work

very hard to discover the miracles of

language and linguistics to contribute

optimally to human live. To do so,

language teaching need to be

developed in universities and research

centres.

REFERENCES

Aitchison, 1. (1999) Teach Yourself Linguistics (5th edition). London: Hodder & Stoughton.

Bloch, Bemard and George L. Trager. 1942. Outline of Linguistic Analysis. Baltimore: Linguistic Society of AmericalWaverly Press. p.5).

Chomsky, Noam. 1957. Syntactic Structures. The Hague: Mouton.

de Saussure, Ferdinand. 1973. Cours de Linguistique Generate. Paris: Payot (First publication 1916). Trans. By Rahayu S. Hidayat. Ed. Harimurti Kridalaksana 1988. Pengantar Linguistik Umum. Yogyakarta: Gajah Mada University Press.

Finnochiaro, Mary. 1974. English as a Second Language From Theory to Practice. New York: Regents Publishing Company, Inc.

Geertz, Clifford Geertz. 1973. The interpretation of Culture. New York: basic Books.

Goodenough, Ward H. 1971. Culture, Language, and Society. AddisonWesley Modular Publication. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., Inc.

Johnson, dora. 2006. "Linguistics". ERIC/CLL Resource Guides Online. Available at www.cal.orgiericclVfags/rgos/lingu istics.html. Accessed on July 5th, 2006.

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Littlejohn, Stephen W. 1992. Theories oj" IInman Communicanon Heimont. California: Wadsworth Publishing Company.

Lyons, Jolm. 1981. Language and Linguistics: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

M.AK. Halliday. 1985. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold.

Montagu, Ashley. 1959. The Cultured Man. New York. P. ]29

Pei, Mario and Frank Gaynor. 1975. Dictionary (!!" Linguistics. Littlefield, U.S.A: Adams & Co.

R.A Hall, R.A 1968. An Essay on Language. Philadelphia & New York: Chilton Books.

Sapir, Edward. 1921. Language. New York: Harcourt Brace.

Wardaugh, Ronald. 1972. Introduction to Linguistics. New York: McGraw-Hili, Inc.

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