FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE: BIOGRAPHY, THEORIES AND PUBLISHED WORKS - HISTORY - 2024

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) was a linguist born in Switzerland in 1857. From a very young age he showed interest in studies on this discipline, although he combined his study with others such as philosophy or physics. His interest in the language and its development led him to learn Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit, an ancient language of India.

Saussure was a professor in Paris and, until his death, in Geneva. It was in that last city where he developed most of his theories, although he never published any. In fact, it was some of his former students who would be responsible for making his work known after his death.

Source: siehe dort, see source file, via Wikimedia Commons

The book that these students managed to publish, Course in General Linguistics, marked a change in linguistic studies. Saussure was the initiator of structuralism, with contributions as important as the theory of the Sign or the differentiation between speech and language.

The most important point of his work is the consideration of language as a system of combination rules accepted by the whole society. It is precisely this acceptance that allows the entire community involved to understand each other and to communicate.

Biography

Ferdinand de Saussure Pérez-Pérez came to the world in Geneva, Switzerland. He was born on November 26, 1857 into one of the most important families in the city and not only for the economic aspect.

His ancestors included scientists of all branches, from physicists to mathematicians, something that undoubtedly influenced the young Saussure.

Studies

Ferdinand began his student life at Hofwil College, near the city of Bern. When he was 13 years old, he entered the Martine Institute in Geneva, a center where he began teaching Greek. It was in this center that his taste for linguistics began to emerge.

In 1875 he spent two semesters at the University of Geneva, choosing the specialties of physics and chemistry, something that experts attribute to the scientific tradition of his family. However, he alternated these disciplines with those of philosophy and art history, without losing his interest in the study of the language.

Little by little, his preferences for linguistics led Saussure to focus on his study. First, at the University of Geneva itself, following the method of comparative grammar. Later, focusing on the Indo-European languages, he went to Leipzig and Berlin to continue his training.

It was in the first city, Leipzig, that he studied Sanskrit, a subject on which he published, in 1879, the work Memory on the primitive system of vowels in Indo-European languages.

Paris

A year later, Saussure published his doctoral thesis, “On the use of the genitive absolute in Sanskrit”, the quality of which earned him a call to occupy a position as professor of grammar in Paris.

In the French capital, Saussure taught at the School of Higher Studies, one of the most prestigious in the country. In addition, he took advantage of his stay to attend the courses of the father of semantics, Michel Bréal.

During his Parisian period, Saussure wrote some articles on comparative grammar, although his biographers point out that they were jobs imposed by the educational center where he worked. According to these experts, that branch of grammar seemed out of date, without real explanations of the linguistic phenomenon.

Disenchanted at not being able to advance his own theories, he decided to go to Switzerland, according to some personal letters he sent to a disciple of his.

Return to Geneva

After 10 years in Paris, Saussure returned to Geneva to continue his work. In the Swiss city, he began teaching at the university, teaching Sanskrit and modern languages.

In 1906, Saussure took over the General Linguistics course, a class he continued to teach until 1911, when a disease affecting the lungs prevented him from continuing to work.

During the first three years in his new position, Saussure dedicated himself to establishing himself as a teacher. The following, on the other hand, were the most intellectually prolific of his life. It was at this time that he began to fully develop his theories, leaving behind the old beliefs about language.

The success of his classes was such that many interested parties traveled from the rest of Europe and Asia just to listen to him. According to experts, it was not only the content that attracted attention, but also its fun and witty style.

It was precisely two of his students during those years who were responsible for Saussure's work being published. In 1916, with the linguist now deceased, they compiled his course notes and made a book with them.

Death

Ferdinand de Saussure died in Morges on February 22, 1913, at the age of 55. The lung condition that had forced him to drop out of classes was the main cause of death.

Theories

After the publication of his posthumous work, the author was still slow to reach the repercussion that, later, made him fundamental for modern linguistics.

Within his theories, Saussure defined the dichotomy between language and speech, considered the basis of structuralism. Likewise, his works on the sign have been considered fundamental for the discipline.

Structuralism

Ferdinand de Saussure is considered the father of linguistic structuralism, a theory that began 20th century linguistics. With it, there was a break with the tradition based on history, focused on studying the evolution of the language.

Saussure changed this tradition by introducing a new way of looking at the facts of language. Based on his work, it began to be considered that there was a complex system in which various elements were related to each other, forming a structure.

In this way, structuralism considers that languages ​​should be studied by focusing the question on the reality of the moment and not only on its evolution. In addition, they begin to be considered as a system of signs, affirming that there are several dualities in their conception.

Language - speak

One of the main dichotomies that Saussure pointed out in his studies is that between language and speech. Although they may seem similar, the difference was clear to the linguist.

Thus, language would be the system of signs that is established by society and that is alien to the individual. For its part, speech is the individual act.

In this way, language would be nothing more than the contract (tacit and invisible) that all society establishes to give meaning to sounds and written letters. That agreement is the one that decides that "cat" refers to a specific animal so that everyone understands the same thing.

On the other hand, in speech it is more heterogeneous, since it refers to the act of will that each individual uses to communicate.

Synchrony - diachrony

This dichotomy does not refer to language itself, but to the science that studies it. Linguistics, in this case, can be synchronous or diachronic depending on the time.

According to Saussure, language as a concept exists in the minds of speakers. This means that we can only study its elements in relation to a specific time. It would not be possible, in this way, to mix different parts of the story, since time causes the language to change.

This way of studying the language, focusing on its form at a certain time, was what Saussure called synchronic. If the time, diachronic system, is not taken into account, for Saussure the study of the linguistic fact as a system would not be possible.

Internal linguistics and external linguistics

As with the previous dichotomy established by Saussure, the difference between internal and external linguistics has to do with the science that studies them.

According to the author, it is necessary to be clear that all languages ​​are the same. Thus, he argues that they must be studied as organized codes based on reality as it is.

The linguistic sign

According to Saussure's definition, "language is a system of signs that express ideas and, for that reason, is comparable to writing, the alphabet of the deaf-mute, symbolic rites, forms of courtesy, military signs, etc."

For the author, language is simply the most important type of system among those used by human beings.

Continuing with this explanation, it can be established that the linguistic sign has, by itself, two different faces. The first defines it as the union between a concept or idea (signifier) ​​and its image in the human brain (signified).

For its part, the second covers both the sound and the representation that each person makes in their mind about the spoken word. Thus, the word dog makes our brain understand that we mean that animal.

Characteristics sign

Within their study of the sign, Ferdinand de Saussure and his later disciples established three main characteristics:

- Arbitrariness. The signifier and the signified are totally arbitrary. For the author, this means that he has no motivation. Thus, for example, the real being of the "tree" has no relation to the sound or written word that names it,.

- Linearity of the signifier: the signifier varies over time, following a time line. In this case, Saussure made the difference between visual signifiers (a photograph of the tree, previously discussed) and acoustic signifiers (tree), which must follow the timeline of the sound to be understood.

- Immutability and mutability: in principle, each community establishes a series of immutable signs, since if they changed their understanding it would be impossible. However, with the passage of time, some significant changes can occur. In Spanish, for example, the word “iron” became “iron”, although the community accepted both.

Tongue stability

The tongue, in general, tends to remain stable. It can even be said that it tries to avoid news and changes, since these can be a source of misunderstandings.

The way of communicating is inherited from generation to generation, making tradition stronger than innovation. That does not mean that some changes do not occur over time, since society, as it evolves, causes its language to do so as well.

Published works

According to Saussure's biographers, he never considered leaving any of his works in writing. So much so, that he had a habit of destroying the notes he used to teach his classes at the university.

In addition, according to experts, his notes were increasingly scarce, almost disappearing in his last stage in Geneva.

His best-known work, and that gave it greater repercussion, was called Cours de linguistique générale (Course in General Linguistics) which was published in 1916, after the author died.

Fortunately, since this work is considered one of the most influential of the 20th century, two of his students managed to sort the notes taken in class and those from conferences and publish them in book form.

Saussure's work legacy

When the aforementioned students published the book, the impact was not too great. It took a few years for the work to be considered a milestone in the study of language.

From the 40s of the 20th century, structuralism began to impose itself as the mainstream within linguistics.

In Europe, on the one hand, Saussure became the main reference, with a special following in France and Spain. In the United States, for its part, the main reference was Bloomfield, along with other authors who followed the work of the Swiss.

Thesis and other works

As discussed, Saussure was not very keen on publishing his thoughts. Therefore, apart from the most important (compiled by his followers) there are few examples of his works.

Among his early works is a Memoire on the Primitive System of Vowels in Indo-European Languages, published before he finished his doctorate. In this work, he explained how Indo-European root vowels could be reconstructed.

Apart from this work, and his doctoral thesis, some manuscripts are preserved in the Geneva library. Her descendants donated other documents to that institution in 1996 and 2008. Finally, some poems and stories written by the linguist during her adolescence have been found.

References

1. Martínez Moreno, Rafael. Ferdinand de Saussure and structuralism. Obtained from papeldeperiodico.com
2. Moreno Pineda, Víctor Alfonso. Ferdinand de Saussure, father of modern linguistics. Obtained from magazines.elheraldo.co
3. Guzmán Martínez, Greece. Ferdinand de Saussure: biography of this pioneer of linguistics. Obtained from psicologiaymente.com
4. Kemmer, Suzanne. Biographical sketch of Ferdinand de Saussure. Retrieved from ruf.rice.edu
5. New World Encyclopedia. Ferdinand de Saussure. Retrieved from newworldencyclopedia.org
6. Araki, Naoki. Saussure's Theory of Sign. Recovered from harp.lib.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/it-hiroshima/…/research50_001-007
7. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Ferdinand de Saussure. Retrieved from britannica.com