Saussure and structural linguistics
This page delivers no verdict; it presents claims and evidence with their sources. No theory in science is absolute. Method
For everyone
Saussure defined language as a system of signs that gain meaning through their relations with one another. For him the link between a word's sound and its meaning is not natural but conventional (arbitrary). His book, compiled from his students' lecture notes, launched 20th-century structuralism in linguistics, anthropology and literary theory.
For specialists
The Cours de linguistique générale introduced the distinctions between signifier and signified, language system (langue) and speech (parole), and synchronic and diachronic study. Linguistic value is determined by an element's difference from other elements in the system. The book was compiled after Saussure's death by Bally and Sechehaye; manuscripts found in 1996 showed that some views had been shaped by the editors.
Claims
- The linguistic sign is arbitrary; the link between signifier and signified rests on convention.[1]
Positions
- Sound-symbolism research
- Some sound–meaning links recur across languages more than chance would predict, showing that arbitrariness is not absolute.[2]
Connections
Sources
- Book (1916). Cours de linguistique générale. Payot, Lausanne–Paris
- Article (2016). Sound–meaning association biases evidenced across thousands of languages. PNAS 113(39), 10818–10823DOI 10.1073/pnas.1605782113archive
Search the literature
Look for scholarly work on this topic in other indexes:
Cite this page
Athena contributors. (2026). Saussure and structural linguistics. Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Retrieved November 1, 2026, from https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/saussure/
@misc{athena_saussure,
title = {Saussure and structural linguistics},
author = {{Athena contributors}},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://latifkedi.github.io/athena/en/d/saussure/}},
note = {Athena: The tree of human knowledge. Accessed: 2026-11-01}
}Added: September 27, 2026 · Last changed: September 27, 2026 · Page history