Editing Language (section)

===Formal symbolic system===
Another definition sees language as a [[formal system]] of signs governed by grammatical rules of combination to communicate meaning. This definition stresses that human languages can be described as closed [[structural linguistics|structural systems]] consisting of rules that relate particular signs to particular meanings.{{sfn|Trask|2007|p=93}} This [[structuralism|structuralist]] view of language was first introduced by [[Ferdinand de Saussure]],<ref name="Saussure">{{harvcoltxt|Saussure|1983}}</ref> and his structuralism remains foundational for many approaches to language.<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Campbell|2001|p=96}}</ref>

Some proponents of Saussure's view of language have advocated a formal approach that studies language structure by identifying its basic elements and then by presenting a formal account of the rules according to which the elements combine in order to form words and sentences. The main proponent of such a theory is [[Noam Chomsky]], the originator of the [[generative linguistics|generative theory of grammar]], who has defined language as the construction of sentences that can be generated using transformational grammars.{{sfn|Trask|2007|p=130}} Chomsky considers these rules to be an innate feature of the human mind and to constitute the rudiments of what language is.<ref>{{harvcoltxt|Chomsky|1957}}</ref> By way of contrast, such transformational grammars are also commonly used in [[formal logic]], in [[formal linguistics]], and in applied [[computational linguistics]].<ref>{{Harvcoltxt|Trask|2007|pp=93, 130}}</ref><ref name="NewmeyerForm">{{harvcoltxt|Newmeyer|1998|pp=3–6}}</ref> In the philosophy of language, the view of linguistic meaning as residing in the logical relations between propositions and reality was developed by philosophers such as [[Alfred Tarski]], [[Bertrand Russell]], and other [[formal logic]]ians.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}