Abstract

The structuralist movement distinguished between the two types of linguistics: internal linguistics and external linguistics. This classification aimed at determining and naming clear distinctions between the factors in which the linguistic determination process is distributed in modern linguistics. There are internal factors, motivated by subjective principles, which are the fixed forces that direct and balance the language system at the same time. There are also external factors, more dynamic factors that direct the language system and control its change. According to the model adopted by the study, the external factors are confined to two groups: one relates to the expelling forces of the language, and the other relates to the attractive forces of the language. The importance of this determination lies in its display of an aspect of the law of equilibrium that governs the development of all languages. There are two opposing tendencies that direct the language in two contrasting paths: one of them tends the language toward disorder, and the other tends to stabilize it. This study adopted the attractive forces of language as its subject, detailing three external factors that had a major impact on steadying and stabilizing the language and in reducing the speed of change and disturbance. These factors were represented in three main institutions: the scientific domain, the cultural domain, and the political domain. The study concluded that these three domains or contexts have a prominent role in forcing speakers to adopt a unified linguistic identity that imposes a kind of stability on the language in use. All of them have contributed, with their hierarchical functions, after each other, in creating a safe environment that preserves the language’s balance and gives it a measure of relative stability in order to enable the language preserving its essential function, which is to remain a valid tool for communication between people.

Keywords

Common language, External change factors, scientific institution, Cultural Foundation, Political establishment

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