Stratificational linguistics

Stratificational linguistics is a view of linguistics advocated by Sydney Lamb. His theories advocate that language usage and production is stratificational in nature.

Specifically, that there are separate 'strata' or levels in the brain used for language. Each level provides actualization or 'realization' for the next higher level, and the elements on its level are similar to each other. Several strata are involved in the production of a sound from an initial idea.

Some strata include:

• Phoneme as the unit on the phonemic stratum.
• Lexeme as a unit on the lexical stratum.
• Morpheme as the unit on the morphemic stratum.
• Sememe as the unit on the semantic stratum.

Relevant literature

• Bennett, David C. 1968. English Prepositions: A Stratificational Approach. Journal of Linguistics 4.2:153-172.
• Lamb, Sydney M. "The Sememic Approach to Structural Semantics 1." American Anthropologist 66, no. 3 (1964): 57-78.
• Lamb, Sydney. Language and reality: selected writings of Sydney Lamb. A&C Black, 2004.
• Lockwood, David G. 1969. Markedness in Stratificational Phonology. Language 45.2:300-308.
• White, John. 1969. Stratificational Grammar: A New Theory of Language. College Composition and Communication 20.3:191-197.

See also

• Meaning–text theory