Ferdinand de Saussure’s Course in General Linguistics (1916) is a summary of his lectures at the University of Geneva from 1906 to 1911. Saussure examines the relationship between speech and the evolution of language, and investigates language as a structured system of signs.
The text includes an introduction to the history and subject-matter of linguistics; an appendix entitled “Principles of Phonology;” and five main sections, entitled: “Part One: General Principles,” “Part Two: Synchronic Linguistics,” “Part Three: Diachronic Linguistics,” “Part Four: Geographical Linguistics,” and “Part Five: Concerning Retrospective Linguistics.”
Saussure defines linguistics as the study of language, and as the study of the manifestations of human speech. He says that linguistics is also concerned with the history of languages, and with the social or cultural influences that shape the development of language.
Linguistics includes such fields of study as: phonology (the study of the sound patterns of language), phonetics (the study of the production and perception of the sounds of speech), morphology (the study of word formation and structure), syntax (the study of grammar and sentence structure), semantics (the study of meaning), pragmatics (the study of the purposes and effects of uses of language), and language acquisition.
Saussure draws a distinction between language (langue) and the activity of speaking (parole). Speaking is an activity of the individual; language is the social manifestation of speech. Language is a system of signs that evolves from the activity of speech.
Language is a link between thought and sound, and is a means for thought to be expressed as sound. Thoughts have to become ordered, and sounds have to be articulated, for language to occur. Saussure says that language is really a borderland between thought and sound, where thought and sound combine to provide communication.
Spoken language includes the communication of concepts by means of sound-images from the speaker to the listener. Language is a product of the speaker’s communication of signs to the listener. Saussure says that a linguistic sign is a combination of a concept and a sound-image. The concept is what is signified, and the sound-image is the signifier. The combination of the signifier and the signified is arbitrary; i.e., any sound-image can conceivably be used to signify a particular concept.
A sign can be altered by a change in the relationship between the signifier and the signified. According to Saussure, changes in linguistic signs originate in changes in the social activity of speech.
Saussure says that linguistic signs are by nature linear, because they represent a span in a single dimension. Auditory signifiers are linear, because they succeed each other or form a chain. Visual signifiers, in contrast, may be grouped simultaneously in several dimensions.
Relations between linguistic signs can be either: syntagmatic (linear, sequential, or successive), or associative (substitutive, or having indeterminate order).
Saussure defines semiology as the study of signs, and says that linguistics is a part of semiology. He maintains that written language exists for the purpose of representing spoken language. A written word is an image of a vocal sign.
Saussure argues that language is a structured system of arbitrary signs. On the other hand, symbols are not arbitrary. A symbol may be a signifier, but in contrast to a sign, a symbol is never completely arbitrary. A symbol has a rational relationship with what is signified.1
Linguistic signs may, to a varying extent, be changeable or unchangeable. Deterrents to linguistic change include: the arbitrary nature of signs, the multiplicity of signs necessary to form a language, and the complexity of the structure of language. Factors that promote change in language include: individual variation in the use of language, and the extent to which language can be influenced by social forces.
Saussure distinguishes between synchronic (static) linguistics and diachronic (evolutionary) linguistics. Synchronic linguistics is the study of language at a particular point in time. Diachronic linguistics is the study of the history or evolution of language.
According to Saussure, diachronic change originates in the social activity of speech. Changes occur in individual patterns of speaking before becoming more widely accepted as a part of language. Speaking is an activity which involves oral and auditory communication between individuals. Language is the set of rules by which individuals are able to understand each other.
Saussure says that nothing enters written language without having been tested in spoken language.2 Language is changed by the rearranging and reinterpreting of its units. A unit is a segment of the spoken chain that corresponds to a particular concept.3 Saussure explains that the units of language can have a synchronic or diachronic arrangement.
Saussure’s investigation of structural linguistics gives us a clear and concise presentation of the view that language can be described in terms of structural units. He explains that this structural aspect means that language also represents a system of values. Linguistic value can be viewed as a quality of the signified, the signifier, or the complete sign.
The linguistic value of a word (a signifier) comes from its property of standing for a concept (the signified). The value of the signified comes from its relation to other concepts. The value of the complete sign comes from the way in which it unites the signifier and the signified.
Thus, Saussure shows that the meaning or signification of signs is established by their relation to each other. The relation of signs to each other forms the structure of language. Synchronic reality is found in the structure of language at a given point in time. Diachronic reality is found in changes of language over a period of time.
Saussure views language as having an inner duality, which is manifested by the interaction of the synchronic and diachronic, the syntagmatic and associative, the signifier and signified.
1Ferdinand de Saussure, Course in General Linguistics, edited by Charler Bally and Albert Sechehaye in collaboration with Albert Riedlinger, translated by Wade Baskin (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1966) pp. 68-73.
2Ibid., p. 168.
3Ibid., p. 121.
Saussure, Ferdinand de. Course in General Linguistics. Edited by Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye, in collaboration with Albert Riedlinger. Translated by Wade Baskin. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1966.