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    What Is Formalism

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    Faiza Shabir
    Formalism in linguistics

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    What Is Formalism

    Uploaded by

    Faiza Shabir
    70 views2 pages
    Formalism in linguistics

    Original Title

    What is formalism

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    Formalism in linguistics

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    70 views2 pages

    What Is Formalism

    Uploaded by

    Faiza Shabir
    Formalism in linguistics

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    What is formalism:

    Formalism in linguistics is a way to study how sentences are built, focusing on making
    grammatically correct sentences. It's like following strict rules to put words together properly.

    In general, formalism is a theory about language that says sentence structure follows specific
    rules, without considering what the words mean or what the sentences express. It's all about the
    order and types of words used to make sentences.
    Major proponents:
    1. Wilhelm Wundt:
     He argued that math comes from how humans think, not just fixed rules.
     For example, 1 + 1 = 2 might not always be true because it depends on human reasoning.
    2. Edmund Husserl:
     He disagreed with both sides.
     Husserl believed that basic math ideas, like addition, grow as we use them.
     He also said that language and grammar are all about logic.
    3. Ferdinand de Saussure:
     He compared language rules to chess rules.
     Saussure thought language rules are always meaningful.
     He believed language rules are like universal laws, not just based on history.
    4. Roman Jakobson:
     He liked analyzing texts by themselves.
     His approach, called Russian formalism, focused on the text, not psychology.
     Some didn't like it because they thought it ignored how people feel about literature.
    5. European linguists:
     They disagreed with Wundt's idea that culture comes from psychology.
     They agreed with Husserl and Saussure, who said language is about meaning, not
    just psychology.
     They weren't very interested in using math in linguistics.
    6. Formalism in the US:
     Franz Boas brought Wundt's ideas to the US for anthropology.
     Bloomfield, influenced by Wundt, focused on describing language without
    delving into theories.
     Later, linguists like Harris and Hockett used math to understand language
    structure.
     Chomsky disagreed, saying language is about psychology, not math.
     Chomsky thinks math doesn't help with understanding language.
     Instead, he looks for patterns in language, like in biology.
     Others think language is always changing, not fixed like Chomsky says.
    Ideas
    1. Autonomy of Syntax:
     Linguistic formalism says syntax (sentence structure) works by its own rules, without
    needing meaning or context.
     Some linguists argue syntax is separate from meaning, but others think meaning affects
    syntax.
     Noam Chomsky's ideas have shifted from saying syntax is independent to saying
    grammar is independent.
    2. Language as a Formal System:
     Formalists believe human language is like math or computer code.
     They say we can use formal rules to describe language, treating it like a math problem
    with its own set of rules.
    3. Primacy of Form:
     Formalists focus on how language looks (syntax) and see it as separate from the real
    world.
     For example, according to de Saussure, words don't have inherent meanings; they're just
    symbols.
     Critics say this view ignores how language is actually used and represented in the mind.
    Russian Formalism

    Russian Formalism was a group of literary critics in Russia in the early 1900s. They
    believed that literature should be studied on its own, not as a reflection of the author's
    life or the time it was written. Formalists focused on the unique language and style of
    literature, like how authors used special techniques to make their writing artistic.

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