Functionalism in the broadest sense is a perspective on society and culture which emphasises the interdependent functions of all of the parts in relation to the whole system. It was established by the sociologists Herbert Spencer and �mile Durkheim and was later adopted by the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski and the sociologists Talcott Parsons and Robert K Merton. It has been criticised for failing to account for conflict and change. In linguistics functionalism is the view that the structure of language is determined by the functions that it serves. Consequently, functionalist linguists focus on the function of linguistic forms.