Distribution (Linguistics) — Distribution (Sprachwissenschaft)
The distribution of an object is generally the distribution of its copies ( tokens ) in the environment or the environments in which it occurs. In linguistics , as in other disciplines, the term can be used in a broad sense, where one examines the distribution of any data in the subject area and thus also of the distribution of languages in an area or the distribution of properties of linguistic units, such as sentence lengths , can speak in corpora .
In the narrower sense, the distribution of a linguistic unit is the totality of the contexts (or contexts) in which it occurs. Linguistic units of all levels and levels of abstraction come into question, including sounds and phonemes , morphemes and morphemes , words , constructions , etc. If such a unit occurs in a speech or text , there are other units in front of and after or to the left and right of it Species, with which they form a unit of a higher level of complexity. The German morph -eme z. B. occurs after the tribes beautiful , old , loud etc., generally based on adjective stems , and forms the strong declension form of the dative singular masculine and neuter. It occurs z. B. not on nouns; the form of declination is from old old , but from day to days . So the distribution of -em is «occurs after adjective stems». This class of contexts is formally represented as follows: [[X] Adj __]. In the place of the X one has to think of any adjective stem; the underscore stands for the position occupied by the unit whose distribution we are talking about.
Paradigmatic relations as distribution relations
If one compares the distributions of two linguistic units A and B with one another, three distributional relationships are of particular relevance, each of which forms a particular paradigmatic relation :
- If A and B have the same distribution, but if A is replaced by B in one context, there is a difference in meaning, then their paradigmatic relation is the opposition . Example: In Standard German, / d / and / t / stand in opposition, because when they are exchanged in a context such as _rüben there is a difference in meaning. Likewise, although and because (as conjunctions at the beginning of subordinate clauses) are in opposition.
- If A and B have the same distribution, but if A is replaced by B in any context, there is no difference, then their paradigmatic relation is free variation . Example: In Standard German the sounds [R] and [ʁ] are in free variation; and also the words, though and though, are in free variation. (This example also shows that synonymy can be defined as the free variation of meaningful units.)
- If the distributions of A and B complement each other in such a way that A occurs in all the contexts in which B does not occur, then their paradigmatic relation is the complementary distribution . Example: In Standard German, the sounds [ç] and [χ] are in a complementary distribution, because [χ] only occurs after trailing vowels, while [ç] occurs in all other contexts. The morphes -est and -st are also in a complementary distribution after verb stems (possibly inflected after tense), because the former only appears after alveolar plosives , the latter in all other contexts. Sounds with a complementary distribution are grouped as allophones to a phonemetogether, in the case of the example to a phoneme, which is mostly written / x /. Morphs with complementary distribution are grouped together as allomorphs to form a morpheme ; in the case of the example it is the conjugation ending of the second person singular.
The distribution class
Two linguistic units that have the same distribution belong to the same distribution class . Morphs that have the same distribution as -em include -er (as in old ), -e (as in old ) etc. In this case, the suffixes that result in the paradigm of adjective declination belong to a distribution class. (However, this assumes that this morph has been distinguished from its homonyms , which have a completely different distribution.)
Since the distribution of a unit can be objectively checked relatively well, one tries to reconstruct traditional linguistic categories as distribution classes. The part of speech ‘adjective’ could e.g. B. define it as a distribution class as follows: what in the context [[X] def. Article __ [Y] N ], ie between a definite article and a noun, ie in the context of the __ tagoccurs. The example also shows the limits of the procedure: Firstly, in this way one does not actually find adjectives in German, but rather certain inflected forms of adjectives, about which one would have to generalize again in a controlled manner. Second, one assumes the categories that make up the context. So if you wanted to define ‘adjective’ in this way, you couldn’t define ‘noun’ as something that can come after an adjective. So there is no prospect of analyzing all categories of a certain linguistic level as distribution classes.
Nonetheless, the determination of the distribution of a linguistic unit in structural linguistics is an elementary methodological step in its description. On this basis one then analyzes the function or meaning of the unit.
literature
- Hockett, Charles F. 1958, A course in modern linguistics. New York: Macmillan.
- Spang-Hanssen, Henning 1958, „Typological and statistical aspects of distribution as a criterion in a linguistic analysis.“ Proceedings of the International Congress of Linguists 8: 182–194.
Weblinks
- Christian Lehmann, Paradigmatic and Syntagmatic Relations
What is meant by distribution of terms?
There are four types of propositions, namely (i) Universal affirmative (or A-proposition) (ii) Universal negative (or E-proposition), (iii) Particular affirmative (or I-proposition) and (iv) Particular negative (or O-proposition).
Only these types of propositions can occur in any logical argument. Of course, each proposition, in addition to quantifier and copula, must have a subject term and a predicate term. Now we wish to explain a crucial notion viz. ‘distribution of terms’ in a logical proposition, which plays an important role in developing rules for deductive arguments.
In categorical proposition, terms designate classes of objects. In other words, the subject and predicate terms in a categorical proposition designate classes of objects, and the categorical proposition may be regarded as about these classes.
For example, the proposition “All men are mortal” is about the class of men and the class of mortal beings. More over, it is about all men since we are talking about all the members of the class designated by the term, ‘men’. On the other hand, in asserting the proposition “All men are mortal”, we are not asserting or talking about all the members of the class designated by the predicate term ‘mortal’.
Hence, only a pan of the class of objects designated by the term ‘mortal’ is being considered. So, in any categorical proposition we may refer to either all or some members of a class designated by a term. To express this insight, Aristotle introduces a technical term called ‘distribution’.
A term is said to be distributed in a proposition if and only if it refers to the whole of the class designated by the term. Otherwise, the term is called undistributed. If a term refers to a part of the class designated by the term, it is called undistributed. Alternatively, we may say that if a term refers to the entire denotation of a term (or refers to all the members’ of the class designated by the term) either affirmatively or negatively, then the term in question is distributed. On the other hand, if only a part of a denotation is being referred to by the term then it is called undistributed.
Let us examine which term is distributed in which type of proposition. As we know, there are four types of categorical proposition namely A, E, I and O-propositions. For convenience, let us state the logical form or the structure along with a concrete example of each of the four types of proposition in a tabular form.
|
Proposition |
Logical form |
Concrete example |
|
A |
All S is P |
All men are mortal |
|
E |
No S is P |
No man is perfect |
|
I |
Some S is P |
Some men are rich |
|
0 |
Some S is not P |
Some men are not rich |
Here the variables S and P are called term variables (i.e. the terms are only to be substituted for S and P). More precisely, ‘S’ and ‘P’ stand for subject and predicate terms respectively.
A-Proposition (All S is P)
A-proposition is a universal affirmative proposition that has the logical structure of the form “All S is P”. It is clear that the subject term ‘S’ in an A-proposition is distributed. Because, here we are considering the entire denotation of the term S. Consider a concrete example, ‘All men are martial’. Here we are asserting that every member of the class designated the term ‘men’ is mortal. Hence this statement is about ‘all men’. So, according to the definition of distribution the term ‘men’ is distributed.
On the other hand, the term ‘mortal’ in are example “All men are mortal” is undistributed as we are not saying anything about the entire denotation of the term ‘mortal’ in the proposition, ‘All men are mortal’. Hence, in this ease at best a part of the denotation of the term ‘mortal’ is being considered. So the predicate term in an A-proposition is undistributed. In sum, in an A-Proposition the subject term is distributed and predicate term is undistributed.
E-Proposition (No S is P)
An E-proposition, otherwise known as universal negative proposition, has the logical structure ‘No S is P’, where ‘S’ and ‘P’ stand for subject and predicate term respectively. ‘No man is perfect’ is an instance of it. To assert ‘No S is P’, one is implying that S and P have no member in common, i.e., S and P are excluded from each other, In other words, no member of s is in P and no member of P is in S. Hence, here we are considering the whole of S as well as whole of P negatively. Hence, both S and P in an E-proposition are distributed. Thus, both the subject and the predicate terms of an E-proposition are distributed.
I-Proposition (Some S is P)
I-proposition is a particular affirmative proposition. It has the logical structure or form. “Some S is P”. Here both “S” and” P” are undistributed because in asserting ‘Some S is P’ (or “Some men are rich”), we are not talking of the entire denotation of term ‘S’ or ‘P’ (or ‘man’ and ‘rich’). Thus, we are considering a part of the denotation of S and P. Hence, the subject and predicate terms in an I-proposition are undistributed.
O-Proposition (Some S is not P)
An O-proposition is a particular negative proposition that has the logical structure or form, ‘Some S is not P’. Here clearly ‘S’ (the subject term) is undistributed as we are considering some S i.e. a part of the class designated by the term S.
The predicate term P is denied of “some S”. When we deny a term we deny the entire class designated by the term, otherwise the denial or negation has no meaning. Hence, the predicate term in an O- proposition is distributed as the class designated by ‘P’ as a whole is being denied of “some S”. Thus, in an O-proposition, the subject term is undistributed and predicate term is distributed.
Now we may summaries our above discussion on distribution in a tabular from as given below.
Distribution of Terms
|
Proposition |
Logical form |
Subject |
Predicate |
|
A |
All S is P |
Distributed |
Undistributed |
|
E |
No S is P |
Distributed |
Distributes |
|
I |
Some S is P |
Undistributed |
Undistributed |
|
0 |
Some S is not P |
Undistributed |
Distributed |
From this table we may note the following facts with respect to distribution of terms in standard categorical proposition.
(i) In universal proposition, the subject term is distributed whereas in particular proposition subject term is undistributed.
(ii) In negative proposition the predicate term is distributed while in an affirmative proposition the predicate term remains undistributed.
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Questions for Discussion
1. What is the significance of semasiology?
2. What are the three main trends in defining meaning?
3. What is the essence of the referential (or analytical) approach to meaning?
4. In what relation does meaning stand (1) to the sound-form, (2) to the concept and (3) to the referent?
5. How is meaning defined on the functional (or contextual) basis?
6. What is meant by „the distribution of the word‟?
7. What does the term „context‟ mean?
8. What is the essence of the operational (or information-oriented) approach to
defining meaning?
9. What is the difference between „meaning‟ and ‘sense’?
10. What is the difference between the semasiological and onomasiological approach to linguistic phenomena?
11. What are the main stages of the process of naming?
12. What factors influence the formation of the concept?
13. What types of meaning can be singled out?
14. What is meant by (1) the grammatical meaning, (2) the lexical meaning, (3) the part-of-speech meaning?
15. What aspects of lexical meaning can be singled out?
16. What is the denotational aspect of lexical meaning?
17. What is the connotational aspect of lexical meaning? What constituents may be distinguished in it?
18. What is the pragmatic aspect of lexical meaning? What constituents can be singled out in the pragmatic aspect of meaning?
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