form (n.)

One of the most widely used terms in LINGUISTICS, with a correspondingly wide range of meanings. Its main areas of application are:

form v. meaning/function. In its most general sense, it refers to the abstract PHONOLOGICAL and/or GRAMMATICAL characterization of LANGUAGE, as opposed to its MEANING, as in such phrases as ‘linguistic form’, ‘grammatical form’, ‘one form–one meaning (OFOM)’. More specifically, it refers to the phonological/ grammatical/LEXICAL characteristics of linguistic UNITS, such as SENTENCES, MORPHEMES, LEXEMES, NOUNS, etc., these being referred to as linguistic forms. The term here is often contrasted with FUNCTION: one can study a unit such as the noun PHRASE from both formal and functional points of view (e.g. its internal syntactic structure v. its role as SUBJECT, OBJECT, etc., in a clause). More specifically still, it refers to a particular instance of a grammatical CATEGORY, as in such phrases as ‘the analysis of the forms be, seem, have . . .’ A set of forms displaying similar or identical grammatical FEATURES is said to constitute a form-class, e.g. walk, come, see are part of the form-CLASS of VERBS because they have similar MORPHOLOGICAL characteristics and SYNTACTIC DISTRIBUTION. Phonological/grammatical criteria which identify units and classes are known as formal criteria. ‘Formal’ here is also contrasted with the ‘notional’ approach of TRADITIONAL grammar, where attempts were made to characterize linguistic units in terms of UNIVERSAL notions, as in the definition of a sentence as ‘the expression of a complete thought’.

(2) form v. substance. Here, the term refers to the overall linguistic organization, or STRUCTURE, of speech or writing, as opposed to the physical REALIZATION of language in PHONIC or GRAPHIC SUBSTANCE. In this sense, SEMANTIC structure is included, along with grammar and phonology/GRAPHOLOGY, being part of the abstract language system.

(3) form v. substance and meaning. HALLIDAYAN linguistic theory models language in terms of three interdependent LEVELS: the level of ‘form’ (comprising the grammatical and lexical organization of language) is distinguished from the levels of SUBSTANCE and CONTEXT.

(4) forms (of a unit). The variant realizations of a linguistic unit are referred to as ‘forms’ of the unit, i.e. the members of a set of PARADIGMATIC alternatives. For example, the forms of the verb walk are walk, walking, walks, etc.

(5) The critical characteristics of a linguistic theory, especially as stated in the FORMALIZED terms of logic or mathematics, are referred to as the form of that theory. In GENERATIVE grammar, the formal characteristics of linguistic theory have received special attention, especially in the notion of ‘formal UNIVERSALS’. Formal semantics refers to analysis (in terms of truth conditions, etc.) of a logical system, such as PROPOSITIONAL calculus – an approach which has come to be applied to the study of natural languages.