linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...

, stratification refers to the idea that

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

is organized in terms of hierarchically ordered strata (such as

phonology Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...

, syntax, and

semantics Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and compu ...

). This notion can be traced back to Saussure's dichotomy between

signified and signifier In semiotics, signified and signifier (French: ''signifié'' and ''signifiant'') stand for the two main components of a sign, where ''signified'' pertains to the "plane of content", while ''signifier'' is the "plane of expression". The idea was f ...

and Hjelmslev's expression plane and content plane, but has been explicictly explored as a theoretical concept in

stratificational linguistics Stratificational Linguistics, also known as Neurocognitive Linguistics (NCL) or Relational Network Theory (RNT), is an approach to linguistics advocated by Sydney Lamb that suggests language usage and production to be stratificational in nature. ...

and

systemic functional linguistics # * Systemic functional linguistics (SFL) is an approach to linguistics, among functional linguistics, that considers language as a social semiotic system. It was devised by Michael Halliday, who took the notion of system from J. R. Firth, hi ...

. Gleason, H. 1964. The organization of language: a stratificational view. In Stuart, C. (ed.), ''Report of the Fifteenth Annual (First International) Round Table Meeting on Linguistics and Language Studies'' (Monograph Series on Languages and Linguistics, 17). Washington: Georgetown University Press, 75–95.

In systemic functional linguistics

, stratification is one of the global semiotic dimensions that define the organization of language in context, alongside

instantiation Instantiation or instance may refer to: Philosophy * A modern concept similar to ''participation'' in classical Platonism; see the Theory of Forms * The instantiation principle, the idea that in order for a property to exist, it must be had by ...

and

metafunction The term metafunction originates in systemic functional linguistics and is considered to be a property of all languages. Systemic functional linguistics is functional and semantic rather than formal and syntactic in its orientation. As a functional ...

. Stratification orders "language in context into subsystem according to the degree of symbolic abstraction"; these subsystems are called strata, which are related by realization. Authors differ on how to characterize (and further stratify) each stratum, but the general scheme is always followed: *

Context Context may refer to: * Context (language use), the relevant constraints of the communicative situation that influence language use, language variation, and discourse summary Computing * Context (computing), the virtual environment required to s ...

is realized by language (content plane + expression plane). * In language, the content plane (

and lexicogrammar) is realized by the expression plane. * In the content plane, semantics is realized by lexicogrammar. In the model proposed by

Michael Halliday Michael Alexander Kirkwood Halliday (often M. A. K. Halliday; 13 April 1925 – 15 April 2018) was a British linguist who developed the internationally influential systemic functional linguistics (SFL) model of language. His grammatical descri ...

, the expression plane is stratified into

and

phonetics Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

, so that (⭨ means "is realized by"): * context ⭨ language * = context ⭨ (content plane ⭨ expression plane) * = context ⭨ ((semantics ⭨ lexicogrammar) ⭨ (phonology ⭨ phonetics)) Each stratum can be defined as follows: * Context: "Higher-order semiotic system above the linguistic system. Context covers the spectrum of field elated to the ideational metafunction tenor elated to the interpersonal metafunctionand mode elated to the textual metafunction" * Semantics: "the highest stratum within language; it serves as an ‘interface’ between language and the environment outside language. ..As the upper of the two content strata within language, semantics is the interface between context and lexicogrammar. Semantics transforms experience and interpersonal relationships into linguistic meaning, and lexicogrammar transforms this meaning into words". * Lexicogrammar: "the central processing unit of language, the powerhouse where meanings are created", "the stratum of wording, located between semantics and phonology .. the resources for construing meanings as wordings". * Phonology: "the organization of speech sound into formal structures and systems". * Phonetics: "the interfacing with the body's resources for speech and for hearing".

References

{{Reflist Systemic functional linguistics Linguistics Grammar Language