The Linguistic Sign and the Subsystems of Language

The point of departure is that the traditional linguistic «components» or subsystems like phonology, semantics, lexicon and grammar are based on the linguistic sign (or symbol), and the article discusses the relation between these components: Are they <i>independent and supplementary</i>, or are some systems <i>part</i> of others? And what is their relation to the sign and its two parts, expression and content (meaning)? First, the linguistic sign is presented and discussed, and defined 1) as a <i>general </i>unit with any expression, not limited to speech, 2) <i>non-mentalistically</i>, in a manner compatible with a <i>usage-based </i>approach to language, namely as a <i>social </i>or <i>conventional product</i> that also comprises<i> physical </i>entities like sounds or letters. Then some problems concerning the relation between the sign and the subsystems are pointed out and discussed in the following sections. The main conclusions are: 1) Lexicon and grammar include (e.g. phonological) <i>expressions</i>, phonology deals with the <i>expression system</i>. 2) There is no semantic system – meaning is part of <i>lexicon and grammar</i>. 3) Grammar is not «autonomous», but consists of (complex) <i>signs</i> and includes meaning. 4) Lexicon and grammar are neither expression nor content, but represent the <i>sign </i>or <i>lexicogrammatical</i> level. 5) Languages and texts are not signs and do not consist of expression and content, but of <i>subsystems</i> and <i>parts</i>. 6) Words are the basic part of language, presupposed by grammar.