Thisarticle offers aconcise outline of: a) the general features of orality and how it differs from writing;b )t he history of the antinomyb etween writing and speaking in Western linguistic thought from Plato to the present daya nd the reasons for the expungingo fo rality;c )c ontemporary research trends and the primacyo fs ignification in the analysis of words and spoken language; d) the usefulness of corporaf or the studyo fs poken language.