Ferdinand de Saussure

Find the best quotes, maxims and aphorisms of Ferdinand de Saussure

Biography : Swiss linguist and semiotician.
Born: 1857 - Died: 1913
Period:
20th century
19th century
Place of birth: Switzerland

Switzerland

Ferdinand de Saussure - Quotes

It is often easier to discover a truth than to assign to it its proper place.
Ferdinand de Saussure - Course in General Linguistics /

truth

Language can also be compared with a sheet of paper: thought is the front and the sound the back; one cannot cut the front with out cutting the back at the same time; likewise in language, one can neither divide sound from thought nor thought from sound;
Ferdinand de Saussure - Course in General Linguistics /

One characteristic of the symbol is that it is never wholly arbitrary; it is not empty, for there is the rudiment of a natural bond between the signifier and the signified. The symbol of justice, a pair of scales, could not be replaced by just any other symbol, such as a chariot.
Ferdinand de Saussure - Course in General Linguistics /

Speech has both an individual and a social side, and we cannot conceive of one without the other.
Ferdinand de Saussure - Course in General Linguistics

Language is a system of signs that express ideas.
Ferdinand de Saussure - Course in General Linguistics

Time changes all things; there is no reason why language should escape this universal law.
Ferdinand de Saussure - Course in General Linguistics /

Language is a system whose parts can and must all be considered in their synchronic solidarity.
Ferdinand de Saussure - Course in General Linguistics /

Language

The value of just any term is accordingly determined by its environment.
Ferdinand de Saussure - Course in General Linguistics /

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