por Who was Ferdinand de Saussure?
Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) was a linguist, philosopher, and semiotician born in Switzerland in 1857. He is considered the father of structural linguistics.
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 did not get to publish any. In fact, it was some of his former students who would be in charge of publicizing his work after his death.
The book these students managed to publish, General linguistics course, meant 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 be able to communicate.
Biography of Ferdinand de Saussure
birth and family
Ferdinand de Saussure was born in Geneva, Switzerland, on November 26, 1857, into one of the most important families in the city.
Among his ancestors were scientists of all branches, from physicists to mathematicians, something that undoubtedly influenced the young Saussure.
Studies
Saussure began his student life at the Hofwil college, near Bern. When he turned 13, he entered the Martine Institute in Geneva, the center where he began his Greek studies. It was in this center that his taste for linguistics began to take shape.
In 1875 he spent two semesters at the University of Geneva, choosing to major in physics and chemistry, something that experts attribute to his family’s scientific tradition. However, he alternated these disciplines with those of philosophy and art history, without losing his interest in the study of language.
Little by little, his preferences for linguistics led Saussure to focus on his study. First, at the same University of Geneva, following the method of comparative grammar. Afterwards, focusing on the Indo-European languages, he went to Leipzig and Berlin to continue his preparation.
It was in Leipzig where 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 a grammar professor 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 courses by 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 works imposed by the educational center in which he worked. According to these experts, this branch of grammar seemed out of date, without real explanations of the linguistic phenomenon.
Disenchanted by not being able to advance his own theories, he decided to go to Switzerland, as revealed by 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. There, he began to teach at the university, teaching Sanskrit and modern languages.
In 1906, Saussure took charge of the General Linguistics course, a class he continued to teach until 1911, when a disease affecting his 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 that 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 other countries in Europe and Asia to listen to him. According to the experts, it was not only the content that drew attention, but also its entertaining and witty style.
Precisely, two of his students during those years were responsible for the publication of Saussure’s work. In 1916, with the linguist now deceased, they compiled his course notes and produced 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 school was the main cause of his death.
Ferdinand de Saussure’s theories
Structuralism
Ferdinand de Saussure is considered the father of linguistic structuralism, a theory that gave rise to 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 studying the facts of language. From 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.
language – speech
One of the main dichotomies that Saussure pointed out in his studies is the one between language and speech. Although they may seem similar, to the linguist the difference was clear.
Thus, the 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.
synchrony – diachrony
This dichotomy does not refer to language itself, but to the very science that studies it. Linguistics, in this case, can be synchronous or diachronic, depending on time.
According to Saussure, language as a concept exists in the minds of the 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 promotes the change of the language.
Internal Linguistics and External Linguistics
As it happened with the previous dichotomy established by Saussure, the difference between internal and external linguistics is related to the science that studies them.
According to the author, it is necessary to be clear that all languages are the same. Thus, he maintains that they must be studied as organized codes based on reality as it is.
The linguistic sign
For the author, language is simply the most important type of system used by human beings.
Continuing with this explanation, it can be established that the linguistic sign itself has two different faces. The first would be the union between a concept or idea (significant) and its image in the human brain (meaning).
For its part, the second covers both the sound and the representation that each person makes in their minds about the spoken word. Thus, the word dog makes our brain understand that we are referring to that animal.
Sign
Within their study on the sign, Saussure and his later disciples established three main characteristics:
– Arbitrariness. The signifier and the signified are totally arbitrary.
– Linearity of the signifier: the signifier varies over time, following a time line.
– Immutability and mutability: in principle, each community establishes a series of immutable signs, since if they changed the understanding it would be impossible.
tongue stability
The language, in general terms, tends to remain stable. It can even be said that he tries to avoid novelties and changes, because 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, when evolving, 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 the habit of destroying the notes he used to teach his classes at the university.
In addition, according to what the experts say, his notes were increasingly scarce, almost disappearing in his last stage in Geneva.
His best-known work, and the one that gave him the greatest impact, was called Course of General Linguistics (General linguistics course), published in 1916, after the author died.
Legacy of Saussure’s work
Fortunately, since this work is considered one of the most influential of the 20th century, two of his students managed to order the notes taken in class and those from some conferences and publish them in book form.
When the mentioned students published the book, the repercussion was not too important. It took a few years for the work to be considered a milestone in the study of language.
Theses and other works
His early works include Memory 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 library of Geneva. His descendants donated other documents to that institution in 1996 and 2008. Finally, some poems and stories written by the linguist during his adolescence have been found.
References
Martinez Moreno, Raphael. Ferdinand de Saussure and structuralism. Retrieved from papeldeperiodico.com
Moreno Pineda, Victor Alfonso. Ferdinand de Saussure, father of modern linguistics. Obtained from revistas.elheraldo.co
Kemmer, Suzanne. Biographical sketch of Ferdinand de Saussure. Retrieved from ruf.rice.edu