Classical Thoughts on Language: A Review of the Greek and Roman Linguistics

In the early development of linguistic science in Europe, western philosophers paid much attention to the observation of differences between an individual’s speech and the neighboring people, looking at dialectical or language differences. According to Robins (1997), the initiation of European linguistics thoughts can be tracked from the Greeks. In his famous book entitled ‘A Short History of Linguistics’, Robins (1997) began his discussion by presuming that humans are biologically endowed with language faculty which enable them to acquire their first language. They then learn foreign languages and stimulate linguistic self-consciousness by contacts with the community and foreign speakers. Since then, the study of how language system develops is overlooked, since it is considered as humans’ natural linguistics ability. Robins used the term ‘linguistics science’ to approach the study of how language is diverse and changes with an influence of close interaction between language use and the speech community. He asserted that cultures influence the power of language. Folk linguistics is thus fostered and transmitted into linguistics science through the generation of communities along with cultural variations. Although Robins indicated that the study of linguistics is grounded by the significant exploration of the European frameworks, he insisted that the history of linguistics in Europe does not entail any European superiority in the linguistics field in comparison to the lack of knowledge we may have on the established Sanskrit work of the Indians. Hence, this paper aims to review the two main classical thoughts established in the development of language.