1. A Presentation by Barbara Robinson and Michaela Densmore © 2001
Ferdinand de Saussure
A Presentation by
Barbara Robinson
and
Michaela Densmore
© 2001
Edited By: Dr. Picart
Associate Professor of English
Associate Professor of Law

2. Ferdinand de Saussure-Bio
Born 26 November 1857
(French origin, moved to Geneva)
From a family of many scholars
Studied Latin, Greek, chemistry, theology and law at University of Geneva ( )
At age 21, wrote Mémoire sur le système primitif des voyelle dans les langues indo-européennes in which he proved scholars wrong.

3. Ferdinand de Saussure-Bio
1880 awarded doctorate at University Leipzig (Germany).
Taught at Paris.
1891 returned to Geneva to teach there.
Taught ancient Sanskrit for 21 (!) years!
Was asked to teach a course in General Linguistics (taught it three times )

4. Ferdinand de Saussure-Bio
Influenced many different linguists, but also other disciplines:
Anthropology
Psychiatry
Literary criticism

5. Ferdinand de Saussure-Influence
Some names include:
Claude Lévi-Strauss
(Structural Anthropology) (
Roland Barthes
Early works in Semiotics, put principles into application (

6. Ferdinand de Saussure-Influence
Roman Jakobson
Linguist in the “Frankfurt School” (
Jacques Lacan
Psychiatry (

7. Ferdinand de Saussure-Influence
Jacques Derrida
Literary criticism (

8. Ferdinand de Saussure -Linguistics / Key Terms
Analysis of language
Semiology:
The “Science of the life of signs within the heart of social life” (Saussure)

9. Ferdinand de Saussure -Linguistics / Key Terms
Sign:
combination of a concept and a sound-image
Signifier:
the sound-image
Signified:
concept

10. What does all this mess mean? An Example of Saussure’s words
Signifier I Signified I
(Image) (Concept)
(Roses) (Passion)
Sign I
(passionified roses)

11. What does all this mess mean? An Example of Saussure’s words
Signifier II Signified II
(Image) (Concept)
(Passionified Roses) (Valentine’s Day)
(i.e. Sign becomes
new Signifier)
Sign II
(Product consumption, expenditure of money as romantic obligation)
...

12. Ferdinand de Saussure-Linguistics
Arbitrary Nature of the Sign
We have inherited language from our ancestors.
Language is connecting sound-images
“Fenster” and the concept of or

13. Ferdinand de Saussure-Linguistics
Arbitrary Nature of the Sign (2)
Boundaries become blurred when we look at different types of “language” (e.g. body language, pantomime, spoken language, written language, deaf-mute language, sign language, Braille, etc.)

14. Ferdinand de Saussure-Linguistics
The Linear Nature of the Signifier
Signifier = sound-image
it is measurable only in terms of time.
Sounds are “Schall und Rauch” (“sound and smoke”)
Problem: when writing down the “sound-image” the sound component gets lost.

15. Ferdinand de Saussure-Linguistics
Immutability of the Sign
The signifier (sound-image) “is fixed, not free”
“community itself cannot control so much as a single word; it is bound to the existing language.”
Problem: modern language has added many different words (e.g. computers, “teen” language)

16. Ferdinand de Saussure-Linguistics
Immutability of the Sign (2)
Language is a law, not a rule which we can opt to follow.
We inherit these laws from our ancestors.
Language is a social “institution” and must be seen in the setting.
“Speakers are largely unconscious of the laws of language.”

17. Ferdinand de Saussure-Linguistics
Immutability of the Sign (3)
(1) Arbitrary Nature of the Sign
(2) Multiplicity of Signs Needed for Language
(3) System is “overly complex”
(4) Community does not care to change things.
Tradition  follows no law  arbitrary

18. Ferdinand de Saussure-Linguistics
Mutability
Time changes the relationship between signi-fier (sound-image), signified (concept) and therefore the sign.
E.g. “mouse” =
= = “mouse”

19. Ferdinand de Saussure-Linguistics
Mutability (2)
Language = product of both social force and time.
It holds true even for artificial languages, such as Esperanto.

20. Ferdinand de Saussure-Summary
Langue = speech minus speaking
Language is a social construct which re-quires a community of speakers.
Linguistic sign is arbitrary and cannot be taken out of social or temporal context. This is exactly, where signifier and signified are able to shift their relationships (compare “mouse” and “mouse”).

21. Ferdinand de Saussure-Summary
Because of the addition of time to the social context, Saussure feels that there should be two branches of linguistics, which he calls:
Synchronic
Diachronic

22. Ferdinand de Saussure-Summary
Synchronic
confined to one point of view in order to show the whole language system
Diachronic
traces evolution of language, looking not at the whole system but at individual elements of it at different times.

23. Ferdinand de Saussure-Voilà!
Saussure died in 1913.
His Course in General Linguistics was published by students posthumously in 1916 and has been translated into many different languages.

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