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FUNCTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL LINGUISTICS ( Prague) Prague,capital of czech republic

(mathesius is czech linguistic and roman
Introduction: jakobson is russian american
Among functional linguistic theories an important place is occupied by the linguistic).PLC founded in
1926,mathesius is 1st president.
theory of language of the Prague School of Linguistics which is commonly
referred to as functionalist and structural linguistics. Prague structuralism
was extremely fruitful and multifaceted, and its theses were programmatically
implemented not only in the description and explanation of language, but
also in literary studies, the development of children’s speech, ethnography,
etc. It was interdisciplinary in character, and its epistemology was empirical,
that is, its problems and concepts were rooted in the praxis of linguistic and
literary analysis . In addition to theoretical analysis,
some prominent Prague school linguists (e.g., B. Trnka, J. Vachek) were also
interested in the questions of teaching the mother tongue and foreign languages.

The Prague school was inaugurated by a group of prominent scholars

including Mathesius, Jakobson, Trnka, Havránek and Rypka. But it was
Mathesius who gave the group “an organized form and a clear theoretical
direction”. Originally, the group was known at that time as the Prague Linguistic Circle (PLC).
Many other eminent scholars, such as Trubetzkoy, Mukarovsky
and Karcevskij, became members of the PLC. In the 1930s, it was joined by
younger scholars such as Vachek, Vodička, etc.

Besides Jakobson, who emigrated to USA in 1941, where he continued in

his linguistic and literary research, the dissemination, evaluation and further
elaboration of the Prague school linguistic theory was carried out especially
by Vachek and Dušková . Roman Jakobson studied the structure of language and
was particularly interested in the difficulties that appear in many languages. He was
one of the pioneers in structural linguistics, which is the theory that language is a
structured system of interrelated formal units. Structural linguistics analyzes how
units such as word structure, sentence syntax, and phonetics relate to each other.

Jakobson was also interested in philology—the study of literary texts, and oral and
written records, as well as establishing their authenticity. His work eventually led to
creating a theory of communication in which he established what he called the six
functions of language.
Research into the theory of the Prague school was also conducted by many
other scholars (e.g., Matejka ).

Basic theoretical tenets were outlined in the form of theses in the year
1929. They were presented under the same heading to the Congress of Slavic
Philologists held in Prague. Language is
defined functionally as “a system of goal-oriented means of expression”. Then
it is maintained that “No linguistic phenomenon can be understood without
regard for the system to which it belongs” (Vachek). In this sense, the
Prague school puts emphasis on the communicative function of language in the
broadest sense of the word and communicative needs which bear responsibility
for the systemic organization of the formal means of expression, by means of
which language satisfies given communicative needs. All this has helped to
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lay the foundations for the programme of linguistic characterology of various

languages, both Slavic and non-Slavic. Linguistic characterology (it was called
contrastive analysis decades later) is not a mere description, or a taxonomy,
of language phenomena, but an analysis of the most significant language
phenomena, that is, according to their importance in the language system. In
fact, it is a method of analytic comparison, and as such it is a characteristic
feature of functional structuralism.

The concept ‘linguistic characterology’ was introduced by Mathesius in his

works Mathesius and in his university lectures published after his death. It has been adopted by
Vachek and other scholars. The point of departure for this kind of linguistic analysis was not the way
in which we receive language, but how we produce it, that is, how people
express the world around them and inside them. In other words, how people
express factual content. This has resulted in Mathesius’ model (or diagram)
of the process of communication. This model, which has the character of the
process model, was slightly modified by Hladký and Růžička as
follows:

The model of the process of communication by Hladký and Růžička

The dominant position within the model is occupied by the process of

encoding of some information content, that is, a message. Mathesius knew that
the process of encoding was very complicated, but what is of great importance
is that he was able to discern its two main stages.

Undoubtedly, the first stage is

concerned with the process of naming things, relations, processes, abstractions,
etc. by means of naming units (the stage of designation), and the second stage
has to do with putting naming units together (the stage of correlation or their
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positional ordering) by means of predication, word order, etc. The two encoding
processes are the object of study of two interrelated linguistic disciplines, namely
functional onomatology (onomasiology) and functional syntax. Functional
onomatology deals mainly with the structure and semantics of naming units,
cases of conversion, as well as morphology. Functional syntax focuses first of all
on the functional structure of the sentence and the organization of the utterance.

A more elaborated model of the process of communication in comparison

with Mathesius’ model was presented by Jakobson (1960). This model consists
of six constituents:

At the same time the model represents an integration of language functions

since each constituent is associated with a corresponding function, Jakobson proposes the following
system of functions:

Every creature on earth has developed a way to communicate emotions, thoughts,

and desires. For example, pet owners know when their dogs or cats want to go out
or when they are hungry.

But what sets humans apart from the rest of the animal kingdom is our unique
ability to use a formal language. Our languages help us to think critically, collaborate
with others, brainstorm ideas, and convey specific meaning as we plan, organize,
and execute important projects.
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You might be surprised to learn that there are approximately 7,000 different
languages spoken in the world. These languages differ in how the words are put
together, word pronunciation, and sentence structure. But with all of their
differences, all of these languages have the same purpose—to communicate clearly
with other people.

We’ll discuss Roman Jakobson’s functions, or factors, that all languages need in
order to communicate effectively.

What is Jakobson’s theory of communication?

The word communication comes from the Latin word communicare, which means
“to share” or “to be in relation with.” This makes sense because sharing and
relations sort of form the basis of communication. You need at least one person to
share information, and at least one person to receive that information, to
participate in the communication process.

Jakobson’s theory looks at what needs to be present in the process of linguistic

communication, beyond the simple relationship of sending and receiving
information. Jakobson establishes that there are six functions of language that are
needed for communication to occur. In addition, there are six elements, or factors,
in the communication process. Each function focuses on and interacts with a factor
of the communication process.

What are the six factors of communication?

In Jakobson’s theory, there are six factors that are required for communication:

• Addresser: This is the person who delivers a message to a specific audience.

• Addressee: This is the audience that receives the message. Must consist of at least
one person but could include many people.
• Context: The context forms the setting or the reason for the message that will be
communicated.
• Contact: There needs to be a relational channel and connection between the
addresser and the addressee. This connection keeps the lines of communication
open.
• Common code: The code includes the rules that combine to form the message and
correspond to the type of language used.
• Message: The message is what is sent by the addresser and corresponds to an
experience, idea, explanation, and so on.

Basically, these factors work together to enable the communication process. They
are the steps to successful communication, which looks like this:

1. Every communication includes a sender and a receiver (addresser and addressee).

2. The sender establishes the context of the message so it can be understood. This
includes the environment it’s given in, the conditions, and where and when the
message is given. It can also include the potential for interference during the
communication.
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3. The addressee gives feedback to the addresser during and after the delivery of the
message. This establishes the contact that keeps the communication channel
open. Feedback can be verbal or nonverbal, such as nodding agreement or stating
that the message is understood.
4. To make the communication clear and easier to understand, a common code is
used. For example, developers working in an agile environment understand
Scrum, iteration, and standup meetings.

What are the six functions of language?

Language is more than just knowing a lot of different words and what those words
mean. If we don’t know how to put those words together, they won’t have much
meaning. We learn how to form sentences and phrases by listening to others and by
studying grammar. It’s the grammar that helps us to understand the system,
structure, and meaning of written or spoken sentences.

Jakobson’s theory of communication includes six functions of language. If the

grammar tells us what the message means, the functions tell us the purpose of the
addresser who is using the language.

Following are the six functions of language that Jakobson described:

• Referential: One of the main functions of language is sharing information with an

audience. This is the language you use to convey information in an objective way.
For example: Sales are up 3% this quarter. The referential function is concerned
with the informational content of an
utterance, that is, with what is said or written without virtually considering the
addresser or the addressee.
• Emotive: Also called expressive, this function helps us to interpret emotions,
feelings, desires, and moods of the subject. The emotive function gives us direct
information about the sender’s tone. For example: I’m excited about the new car I
bought!
• Conative: This function focuses on the receiver of the message. The language used
with this function is meant to get the attention of or a reaction from the
addressee. For example: Can you show John where to find the paper clips?
• Phatic: The phatic function is used to establish a social connection without really
communicating any meaningful information. This type of language is used to start
or stop a conversation or to check the connection between the sender and
receiver. For example: “How are you?” “I’m fine.” “See you later.”
• Poetic: This one is also known as the aesthetic function of language. This function
focuses on the message as well as the way the message is communicated. This
means that the message might be embellished with rhetorical figures of speech or
“flowery” language. You will find the poetic function in quotations and colloquial
sayings. For example: “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it
is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.”
• Metalingual: Meta is basically defined as self-awareness. So metalingual refers to
talking about the language itself—its features, word definitions, clarifying
ambiguity, and describing deliberate word play are metalingual functions. The
metalingual function is also relevant in translation if foreign words are used to
give special meaning or emphasis.
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Unlike Jakobson, Mathesius distinguished only three functions

of language – communicative, expressive, and cognitive. Both Jakobson‘s and
Mathesius‘ models of the process of communication with their corresponding
language functions have had a tremendous influence on linguistic and literary
studies in this country and abroad. And their significance for teaching languages
is also evident.

Theme & Rheme

Mathesius distinguished two basic entities in the

structure of the sentence as a message: the theme (what is being talked about,
the point of departure) and the rheme (what is being said about it, the nucleus
of the message). For example:
The hurricane killed three people.
theme rheme
According to him every element that conveys meaning pushes the communication forward and
is a carrier of communicative dynamism. The degrees of communicative
dynamism are relative degrees of communicative importance by which the
elements contribute to the unfolding of the process of communication. The
degrees of communicative dynamism are determined by the interaction of
semantic and pragmatic factors, as well as the word order.

Conclusion: At present considerable attention is paid to discourse analysis, genres and

registers, cognitive processes, metaphors, metonymy, etc. These questions
were also studied in the Prague school. Admittedly, the Prague functional structuralism is still an
inspiring force for many present-day linguists both in the Czech Republic and
the Slovak Republic.

Compiled by: Prof. Sanaullah Malik (Lecturer in English HED)