Ferdinand de Saussure works on linguistics. Ferdinand de Saussure, Swiss linguist: biography, works on linguistics

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 - 1913) is called the Copernicus of modern linguistics. The linguistic concept of Saussure is based on ideas of the sign nature and systematic nature of language. The ideas of Saussure served as the basis for the emergence of structuralism in the 20th century. They helped in overcoming the crisis of world linguistics at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century.

F. de Saussure became interested in linguistics in the gymnasium. He studied Sanskrit on his own, and at the age of 12 he met the founder of Indo-European linguistic paleontology, Adolf Pictet. Under his influence, at the age of 15, Saussure wrote his first linguistic work " General language system". At the age of 16, while studying the structure of the Indo-European root, three years before K. Brugmann and G. Osthoff, Saussure accidentally discovered previously unknown Indo-European sonants - sounds that could form syllables. In 1875, Saussure became a student at the University of Geneva, but he had practically no one to study here, and a year later he moved to Leipzig, the largest center of comparative studies of that time. At the University of Leipzig in 1878 Saussure wrote his dissertation " Memoir (study) on the original vowel system in the Indo-European language».

This work outraged the professors of the University of Leipzig, the young grammarians Brugmann and Osthof. At the very center of neogrammatism with its “atomic” method of analysis, with its fundamental refusal to solve general theoretical problems, a modest student came up with an unusual, mathematically verified theory that made it possible to predict the structure of the Proto-Indo-European root, and also clarified the composition of the vowels of the Indo-European parent language. Saussure was criticized so severely that A Memoir of the Primitive Vowel System in the Indo-European Languages became his only major work published during his lifetime. Subsequently, Saussure published only small notes and reviews, which were not paid attention either in Switzerland, or in Germany, or in France.

The core idea of the "Memoir" was the systematic nature of the language. Proving the systematic nature of the Indo-European proto-language, Saussure put forward a hypothesis about unusual sonants, which were then lost, but are indirectly reflected in the vowel alternations of modern Indo-European languages. Saussure made an important conclusion about the systematic nature of the phonetic and morphological structure of the Indo-European parent language.

So, he came to the conclusion that all Indo-European roots had a uniform structure:

1) each root contained the vowel "e", it could be followed by the sonant i, u, r, l, m, n: (*mer-, ber-, mei-, pei-, ken-);

2) in some conditions, the vowel “e” alternated with “o”, in others “e” disappeared (* mer- // mor-: died, pestilence, die; ber- // bor-: I take, collect, take);

3) where the vowel "e" fell out, the root that did not contain a sonant remained without a vowel. At the root, with a sonant, the sonant acts as a syllabic sound when it is followed by a consonant: *pei-ti → pi-t.

The most important principle of these rules is that under the same morphological and phonetic conditions, the vowels of different roots should be the same. For example, in the first person of the present tense of Indo-European verbs, there is a vowel “e” in the root: German. ich gebe (I give), lat. lego (collect), rus. I carry / lead / carry / weave. The verbal name has a vowel "o" at the root: lat. toga, rus. burden / cart / raft. The participle has zero sound "dra-ny" or contains a vowel, which is the result of the fusion of the original vowel and the sonant "broken" from "bey".

Thus, arguments of a systemic nature ensure the reliability of the reconstruction of the parent language.

In 1880 Saussure defended his doctoral dissertation on syntax. He begins to work at the University of Paris, and in Paris he meets I.A. Baudouin de Courtenay. Then a correspondence began between them. In 1891 Saussure moved to Geneva. Here the scientist studied classical and Germanic languages, linguistic geography, the Nibelungen epic, French versification and Greek mythology. There remain 99 of his notebooks on anagrams in Greek, Latin and Vedic poetry.

Saussure led a secluded life. In the eyes of those around him, he looked like a loser who could not rise to the level of his first talented book.

In 1906, Saussure was offered a position as a professor at the University of Geneva.

F. de Saussure read his course three times without leaving even brief notes of his lectures. In 1906 - 1907. Saussure's lectures on the theory of language were attended by six, in 1908-1909. - 11, in 1910 - 1911. - 12 people. After Saussure's death, the lecture notes were published by Saussure's younger colleagues Charles Bally and Albert Sechet in 1916 as " General Linguistics Course". This year began the triumphant recognition of Saussure's concept, which had a tremendous impact on the development of world linguistics. The "Course of General Linguistics" was reprinted several times in French, then was translated into other languages of the world, including Russian.

In the "Course of General Linguistics" Saussure solved the most important problems of linguistics:

1) Contrasting language and speech.

The central concepts of the "Course of General Linguistics" were speech activity, language and speech. In parallel with the scientists of the Kazan Linguistic School, F. de Saussure began to distinguish between two sides in speech activity: language and speech. Saussure placed this distinction at the center of a general theory of language.

Language and speech are two sides of speech activity. Speech activity is diverse, it includes social and individual, because a person expresses his thoughts in order to be understood by others. In speech activity, the external sound and internal, psycho-logical side are distinguished. Of the two sides of speech activity, language is one, but the most important side that determines all the others.

The main difference between language and speech is that language is social and speech is individual. The social nature of language lies in the fact that it functions only in human society. Language is a product of speech ability and a set of language skills. The child learns it by living in a human society. Language is passively registered by man and imposed on him. An individual species can neither create nor change a language.

Language, according to Saussure, is a code that forms a means for speech activity. But language is also a treasure deposited by the practice of speech in all members of the collective. It is a grammatical and lexical system that potentially exists in the brain of a collection of individuals.

Language is a mental phenomenon, but in it there is only the general, the abstract, the abstract. The psychic nature of language does not deny its real existence. Saussure considers the possibility of graphically reflecting the language in writing as proof of its reality. The reality of language is confirmed by the possibility of studying dead languages from monuments.

Speech is entirely individual. It is an act of the will and consciousness of an individual, it is completely controlled by the individual.

The speech contains:

1) the combinations that the speaker forms to express his thoughts using the social code;

2) the psycho-physiological mechanism by which thoughts are objectified and become common property. Speech includes onomatopoeia, articulation.

Reproduced speech is the sum of everything spoken. Consequently, language is abstracted from speech, and not vice versa: "Language and speech are interconnected, for language is both a tool and a product of speech." Saussure demanded a separate study of language and speech. Language is necessary to understand speech, and speech precedes language. It is necessary for the language to be installed.

Contrasting language and speech, Saussure writes that language should be studied in the linguistics of language, and speech - in the linguistics of speech. Linguistics of language / linguistics of speech is the first crossroads on the path of the researcher, and he must choose one of the roads. You have to go through each of them separately. Until the beginning of the 20th century. linguists, according to Saussure, studied only speech. The linguistics of the language is completely unexplored. Therefore, Saussure's motto was the words: "Stand on the point of view of language and consider everything else from this point of view!" The "Course of General Linguistics" ends with the phrase: "The only and true object of linguistics is language considered in and for itself."

2) Contrasting synchrony and diachrony.

The second crossroads on the path of a linguist is synchrony / diachrony, that is, the study of a language at a moment of rest and in development. Saussure proposes to distinguish between 1) the axis of simultaneity (AB) and 2) the axis of sequence (CD).

The axis of simultaneity (AB) concerns the relationship between coexisting sequences, where all interference of time is excluded. On the axis of sequence (SD) are all the phenomena of the first axis with all their changes, it can never be considered more than one thing at once.

Saussure associated the concept of a system only with synchrony, which coincides with the axis of simultaneity. In diachrony coinciding with the axis of the sequence, in his opinion, there are only shifts that can lead to a change in the system. The transition from one state of the system to another is the result of diachronic displacements of individual members.

Often Saussure is accused of separating synchrony from diachrony, of the non-historical nature of his theory. But Saussure perfectly understood their dependence and called himself primarily a historian of language. Using many examples, he showed the independence of synchronic and diachronic analysis and their interconnectedness, emphasizing their dialectical unity and differences. But at the same time, he constantly reminded students that "modern linguistics, having barely arisen, plunged headlong into diachrony" and neglected synchrony. That is why the synchronic aspect was more important for Saussure. "For speakers, only the synchronic aspect is the true and only reality."

If the linguistics of language is in the realm of synchrony, says Saussure, then the linguistics of speech is in the realm of diachrony. Diachronic studies are possible in prospective and retrospective plans. You can predict the development of a language or engage in the reconstruction of the parent language. Linguistics, which should deal with the rest of the language, Saussure proposes to call static or synchronic linguistics, and the science that should describe the successive states of the language, evolutionary or diachronic linguistics.

3) Contrasting external and internal linguistics.

Saussure attributed to external linguistics all aspects related to the history of society; domestic policy of the state; level of culture; relations between language and church, language and school; geographical distribution of languages and their fragmentation into dialects. Language and social factors mutually influence each other.

Internal linguistics studies only the language system, the relationships within it. Saussure compares linguistics to a game of chess. That the game of chess came to Europe from Persia is a fact of an external order; internal is everything that concerns the system and rules of the chess game. If we replace figures made of wood with figures made of ivory, such a replacement will be indifferent to the system; but if the number of figures is reduced or increased, such a change will profoundly affect the "grammar of the game."

Each of the linguistics has its own special method, says Saussure. External linguistics can pile one detail upon another without feeling constrained by the clutches of the system. In internal linguistics, any arbitrary arrangement of material is excluded, since language is a system that obeys only its own order. Saussure gives preference to internal linguistics, as it was underestimated by contemporary linguists.

When Saussure's works were published, material on the difference between internal and external linguistics was placed at the beginning of the book, and the impression was created that for Saussure this antinomy was the main one. In fact, for Saussure, the main thing was the opposition of language / speech, and the predominance of internal linguistics in his "Course ..." is explained by the fact that Saussure outlined a new path along which linguistics of the 20th century went. This path led to an in-depth study of internal linguistics in terms of synchrony.

4) Saussure viewed language as a system of signs..

This idea was developed by Aristotle, the authors of the Port Royal Grammar, V. von Humboldt, scientists from the Kazan and Moscow linguistic schools.

Saussure was the first to isolate language as a sign system from other sign systems: letters, the alphabet of the deaf-mute, military signals. He was the first to propose to single out the science of the life of signs in society - semiology (gr. semeon "sign"). Semiology, according to Saussure, should be included in social psychology as a section of general psychology. Later this science became known as semiotics.

The definition of language as a sign system was directed both against the individualism of neogrammarists and against the understanding of language as an organism by supporters of naturalism. Any linguistic problem, according to Saussure, is, first of all, a semiological problem, since most of the properties of the language are common with other signs and only a few are specific. Semiological study of the language, Saussure believes, will help to understand the rites and customs of peoples. But the main goal of linguistics is to separate language from other semiotic phenomena and study its specific properties.

5) The Doctrine of the Linguistic Sign and Significance.

Saussure argued that "Language is a system of signs in which the only essential is the combination of meaning and acoustic image, and both of these elements of the sign are equally mental." Both of these elements are in the brain, that is, they are mental phenomena. They are associated by association among all speakers of linguistic unity, which ensures understanding. The thing itself and the sounds do not enter into the sign. A linguistic sign, according to Saussure, connects not a thing and a name, but a concept and an acoustic image.

Schematically, a linguistic sign can be depicted as follows:

The image shows that the linguistic sign is two-sided. The concept without an acoustic image refers to psycho-logy. And only in conjunction with the acoustic image does the concept become a linguistic entity. The acoustic image is not something sounding, material, but only its imprint in the human mind. The most significant in the acoustic image is its difference from other acoustic images. Acoustic images can be represented in writing, the signs of which are imprinted in the mind in the form of visual images that replace acoustic ones.

Linguistic signs, according to Saussure, are real because they have a location in the brain. They are the subject of the linguistics of the language. Linguistic signs are, first of all, words, something central in the mechanism of language.

Having defined the linguistic sign, Saussure names two defining features that distinguish the linguistic system from other sign systems and from social phenomena: 1) arbitrariness and 2) linearity.

The arbitrariness of the sign Saussure understood both convention and lack of motivation. According to Saussure, the sign is arbitrary, conditional, not connected by internal relations with the designated object (Russian bull, German Ochs). Thus, the connection between the signified (meaning) and the signifier (material form) is arbitrary. This manifests itself in a lack of motivation. In the language, only a small number of onomatopoeic words and expressions are motivated (Russian crow, meow-meow, woof-woof).

Motivation is associated with the morphological characteristics of the language. Saussure calls the languages with the maximum morphological motivation grammatical, and with the minimum - lexicological. In the history of linguistics, constant transitions of motivated signs into arbitrary ones are observed. Linguistic signs differ from the signs of other semiotic systems in that the symbol retains a share of natural connection with the signified. For example, the symbol of justice is the scales, not the chariot; the symbol of peace is the dove, not the hawk.

In 1939, a discussion about the arbitrariness of the sign took place on the pages of the journal Akta Linguistics. The French scientist Emile Benveniste opposed the doctrine of the arbitrariness of the sign. He argued that the connection between the concept and the acoustic image is not arbitrary, but natural, since it is necessary. One side of the sign does not exist without the other. But the students of Saussure, Albert Sechet and Charles Bally, defending Saussure's theory of arbitrariness, clarified it: the sign is arbitrary when expressing thought and involuntary when expressing feelings and aesthetic impressions. A.A. Potebnya also believed that when they appear, all words are motivated, and then motivation is lost. Disputes about the arbitrariness - non-arbitrariness of a linguistic sign continue to this day.

The consequence of arbitrariness is the antinomy of the changeability / immutability of the sign. The language is imposed on the speaker and even on the mass, as it follows the traditions of the past. And since the sign knows no other law than the law of tradition, it is arbitrary. However, the history of languages gives examples of changes in both sides of the linguistic sign: both the meaning and the sound composition. Thus, there are factors in language that lead to a shift between the signified and the signifier, precisely because there is no necessary connection between them and the sign is arbitrary. The development of the language occurs independently of the will and consciousness of the speaker on the basis of the arbitrariness of the sign.

Linearity of a linguistic sign means that the signifier is an extension that unfolds in time, a line. Acoustic images follow one after another in the form of a chain and cannot occur simultaneously. The property of linearity was subsequently rejected by linguistics. Linearity is characteristic of speech and cannot characterize a sign as a member of a system. It is quite obvious that in Saussure's doctrine of the linearity of the sign, there is a mixture of the linguistics of language with the linguistics of speech.

The central place in Saussure's concept of a linguistic sign is occupied by the doctrine of its theoretical value, or the doctrine of significance.. The word is defined as a linguistic sign by its place and functioning in the language system, depending on other elements of the system. “Language is a system of pure values, determined by nothing but the actual composition of the members that make up its composition,” Saussure argued. For example, the material from which the chess pieces are made is not important, what matters is their value under the conditions of the game.

Due to the fact that the linguistic sign is arbitrary and two-sided, Saussure speaks of two types of values: 1) conceptual and 2) material.

Conceptual (conceptual) value connected with the inner side of the sign, with the signified. Yes, French. mouton and English. sheep have the same meaning "ram", but the conceptual values of these signs are different, since in French. language mouton = "ram" + "mutton", and in English. The language for the meaning of "mutton" has a special word - mutton.

The conceptual value of a sign is revealed within a given language system, taking into account the words of the same semantic field, synonymous and antonymic series. Conceptual value also characterizes grammar. So, Russian pl. the number differs from Old Slavonic, because it is a member of the binary opposition (singular - plural), and not ternary (singular - binary - plural). Consequently, the conceptual values of signs are determined by their relationship with other members of the system, argues Saussure.

material value is the distinction of acoustic images or signifiers. For example, in the word "wife" in the genus. case pl. number has no ending as a positive material element, and the essence is comprehended by comparison with other forms. Fortunatov-Whitney's theory of zero form and Baudouin de Courtenay's theory of morphological zero are built on this position.

Contrasting is important for all elements of the language, including phonemes. So, the French "r" can be pronounced both as a rolling "r" and as "h". In German, such liberties are unacceptable, because there “r” and “h” are independent elements of the sound system that have a meaningful function (Rabe - “raven”, habe - “I have”).

To prove his thesis “Language is a system of pure values”, Saussure turns to the problem of language and thinking. Thinking that is not expressed in words is vague, formless, and the sound chain does not divide without connecting with meaning. Connecting thinking with sound leads to a distinction between units. Saussure likens language to a sheet of paper, where the front side is a thought, and the back side is a sound, but they are inseparable from each other. The linguist works in the border area, where elements of both orders are combined. And in the analysis it is necessary to go from the whole to the individual elements.

6) The doctrine of language as a system.

Saussure's desire to convince his students of the need for a new approach to language forced him to constantly emphasize the systemic nature of language and talk about the role of differences in this systemicity. He put forward the thesis: "There is nothing in language but differences." "Both the idea and the sound material are less important than what is around him in other signs." For example, the significance can change while maintaining both sides of the sign, if the other member changes (if the dual number is lost, the significance of the singular and the plural changes).

Saussure's merit lies in the fact that he truly appreciated the role of relations in language: "in any given state of language, everything rests on relations." Saussure considered the language system as mathematically exact and likened it to algebra and geometry. He used the terms of mathematics: member, element.

The systematic nature of the language is manifested at the phonetic, grammatical and lexical levels. The language system has two properties: 1) it is in balance and 2) it is closed. It reveals two types of relationships: syn-tagmatic and associative. These types of relationships correspond to two forms of our mental activity.

Syntagmatic Relations occur when elements line up one after the other in the flow of speech. Such combinations that have length can be called syntagmas. Syn-tagma always consists of at least two consecutive units: morphemes, words, phrases, sentences. A member of the syntagma acquires significance to the extent of its opposition to what is adjacent to it. This is an adjacency relationship.

Associative (Saussure's term), or paradigmatic (new term) relationships arise outside the process of speech, in the human brain, on the basis that words that have something in common are associated in memory. According to similar features, they can be combined into groups (for example, according to the common root or suffix; according to the common grammatical forms).

Syntagmatic and associative relations in their totality, according to Saussure, define each language: they combine phonetics, vocabulary, morphology, syntax into a single whole. Saussure's linguistic technique is connected with these two types of relations - to decompose the whole into parts on the basis of syntagmatic and associative comparison.

The activities of Saussure are associated with the Geneva (Swiss) Linguistic School (Charles Balli, Albert Seche, Sergey Osipovich Kartsevsky, Robert Gödel) and the Paris School (Antoine Meillet, Joseph Vandries, Michel Grammont, Marcel Cohen). Both of these schools can be called Saussurian.

Since 1928, Saussurianism gradually develops into structuralism, although this name itself appears only in 1939. Saussure's main theses are on the banner of structuralism: language / speech, synchrony / diachrony, internal / external linguistics, systemicity and sign language.

Ferdinand de Saussure is a Swiss linguist who laid the foundations of semiology and structural linguistics and was at the forefront of the Geneva School of Linguistics. The ideas of Ferdinand de Saussure, who is often called the "father" of 20th century linguistics, had a significant impact on the humanities of the 20th century as a whole, inspiring the birth of structuralism.

Saussure was born November 26, 1857 in Geneva (Switzerland) in a family of French immigrants. At the age of 18 he entered the University of Leipzig in Germany, in 1880 he received a doctorate. Then he moved to France, in 1881-1891 he taught Sanskrit at the School of Higher Studies in Paris. In those same years, Saussure served as secretary of the Parisian Linguistic Society and, in this capacity, had a very significant influence on the development of linguistics. Later, from 1906 to 1911, he lectured on comparative grammar and general linguistics at the University of Geneva. Saussure died in Vuflanes (Canton of Vaud, Switzerland) on February 22, 1913.

While still a student in Leipzig, Saussure published Memoire sur le systeme primitif des voyelles dans les langues indo-europ ennes on the original vowel system in the Indo-European languages. The memoir (written in 1878), although it remained the only work published by Saussure, immediately placed him among the leading authorities in linguistics of that time. Based on purely structural considerations, he suggested that Indo-European proto-language - the reconstructed ancestor of many languages of Europe and Asia - had special phonemes that disappeared in Indo-European daughter languages (such as Sanskrit, ancient Greek and Latin). This hypothesis, known as the laryngeal theory (the lost phonemes were later tentatively called laryngeals), helped to explain many problems in the study of the evolution of the Indo-European phonological system. Although many of its provisions are not indisputable, the very fact of the existence of laryngeal phonemes in the Proto-Indo-European language is now beyond doubt. In the Hittite language deciphered after Saussure's death, laryngeal phonemes were identified, the existence of which he suggested for the Proto-Indo-European language.

Saussure's other most important work, the Course of General Linguistics (Cours de linguistique generale), was published in 1916, after the scientist's death. This book, in which Saussure himself did not write a single line, is a reconstruction of the course, compiled from the notes of students by students of the linguist Charles Bally and Albert Sechet. It was thanks to the publication of the Course that Saussure's views on the nature of language and the tasks of linguistics became widely known.

Ferdinand de Saussure, whose biography will be the topic of our article, is a Swiss linguist whose work holds a special place in the history of science. He is considered the founding father of structural linguistics. His writings also laid the foundation for such a discipline as semiotics. Without the ideas of Ferdinand de Saussure, modern linguistics would hardly have been possible. He also owes his birth to such a philosophical trend as structuralism.

Biography

Ferdinand de Saussure was born in 1857 in Geneva. His family belonged to the scientific environment. The grandfather of the future genius of linguistics, Nikola-Theodore, was a chemist and botanist, and another of his ancestors, Horace Benedict, was the second person to climb Mont Blanc. The scientist's father, Henri, was an entomologist. Ferdinand had two brothers - Leopold and Rene. The latter became a leader and promoter of the Esperanto language. Ferdinand had two children - Raymond and Jacques. At least the first of them later became famous as a doctor and psychoanalyst. Ferdinand de Saussure himself showed amazing abilities even in his early years. At the age of 14 he learned Latin, Greek and Sanskrit. He was educated at the Universities of Geneva, Leipzig and Berlin. He received his doctorate in 1880. Lived and taught in Paris. The famous linguist died in 1913. He was buried in Vuflans-le-Chateau, Switzerland.

Early activities

Ferdinand de Saussure became famous for the work that he wrote as a young man. It is dedicated to the vowel system in Indo-European languages. Even then, this work caused an ambiguous reaction and controversy among scientists. This dissertation suggests that the modern languages of Indo-European origin have some progenitor. There were vowels that are now lost. Only traces of them have survived. The scientist even described these disappeared sounds in his study. Interestingly, Saussure's hypothesis was not confirmed until many years after his death, when Hittite linguists discovered the vowel he had predicted.

Ferdinand de Saussure: "language" and "speech"

During his lifetime, the scientist did not publish a single book. All of them were published later. He wrote lecture courses, introducing students to all his discoveries. The main work of the researcher is the work "Course of General Linguistics". The lectures of the scientist were used there, as well as his conversations with future publishers. The main thesis of this work is the separation of such terms as "language" and "speech". The linguist came to the conclusion that it is necessary to distinguish the rules of grammar from the use of words and phrases by people in specific situations. He called the first "language" and the second "speech". Theory and rules - this is the subject of study of linguistics. It gives an adequate description of the language, as well as the elements and structures of which it is composed. But speech, that is, how different people use words, can be very unexpected and creative, breaking all the rules. In the era when the scientist lived, this discovery was so revolutionary that it caused a whole scandal in science, although in our time such a distinction is taken for granted.

Semiotics

Ferdinand de Saussure is also the author of the theory of language as a system of signs that define social life. He called this new science semiology. However, this term did not catch on. Now this direction in linguistics is called semiotics. The scientist set out to find out what exactly distinguishes the language from other sign systems. Thus, one can find the place of linguistics among other sciences, as well as discover the connections between them. From Saussure's point of view, the sign of a language consists of a sound image and a concept. The first is the signifier. It carries the material basis of the language, its form, accessible to our perception. The second is the signified, that is, the essence of the sign symbol, the meaning. The unity between these elements is called the linguistic entity. They can be differentiated from each other. Each individual concept is a linguistic unit. Together they constitute a system of meanings and values. This is how you can characterize the language as a whole. Saussure also proposed He divided it into synchronic and diachronic. In the first case, we are dealing with comparative linguistics, and in the second, with the historical method of learning a language. Both aspects are very important. They help to clarify the structure and evolution of the language.

Heritage

If during the lifetime of the scientist his ideas were rejected, now not only any linguist, but also a philosopher knows who Ferdinand de Saussure is. Photos of the linguist adorn textbooks for universities and special monographs dedicated to his work. And this is not surprising. After all, the ideas of Saussure made many thinkers think about what signs are, what is their role in society and in the formation of our consciousness. His theories inspired such well-known philosophers as And the scientist's approach to the problems of language served as the methodological basis for another humanitarian trend - structuralism. Its supporters considered that, following the example of linguistics, philosophy could use the concept of theoretical models that determine the form and system of the object being studied. These structures operate subconsciously and are more important than the behavior of their individual elements.

SAUSSURE, FERDINAND(Saussure, Ferdinand de) (1857–1913), Swiss linguist, one of the founders of modern linguistic science, as well as structuralism as a scientific ideology and methodology. The theoretical works of Saussure marked the turn of linguistics from the historical and comparative study of languages in their development (i.e. diachrony) to the analysis of linguistic synchrony, i.e. structures of a particular language at a particular point in time. Saussure was the first to consistently distinguish between synchronic and diachronic approaches to language. His appeal to synchrony revolutionized linguistics. For all the significance of the new theories and methods that have appeared since then, the very type of synchronous structural descriptions he proposed played a decisive role in linguistic research throughout almost the entire 20th century.

While still a student in Leipzig, Saussure published Memoir of the original vowel system in the Indo-European languages (Memoire sur le systeme primitif des voyelles dans les langues indo-européennes). memoir(written in 1878), although it remained the only work published by Saussure, immediately placed him among the leading authorities in linguistics of that time. Based on purely structural considerations, he suggested that Indo-European proto-language - the reconstructed ancestor of many languages of Europe and Asia - had special phonemes that disappeared in Indo-European daughter languages (such as Sanskrit, ancient Greek and Latin). This hypothesis, known as the laryngeal theory (the lost phonemes were later tentatively called laryngeals), helped to explain many problems in the study of the evolution of the Indo-European phonological system. Although many of its provisions are not indisputable, the very fact of the existence of laryngeal phonemes in the Proto-Indo-European language is now beyond doubt. In the Hittite language deciphered after Saussure's death, laryngeal phonemes were identified, the existence of which he suggested for the Proto-Indo-European language.

Another important work of Saussure - General Linguistics Course(Cours de linguistique generale) - was published in 1916, after the death of the scientist. This book, in which Saussure himself did not write a single line, is a reconstruction of the course, compiled from the notes of students by students of the linguist Charles Bally and Albert Sechet. Thanks to the publication course Saussure's views on the nature of language and the tasks of linguistics were widely known.

Among the many theories course especially important is the distinction between diachronic (historical and comparative) and synchronic (descriptive) linguistics. Saussure argues that diachronic research must be based on carefully executed synchronic descriptions. The scientist believed that the study of changes occurring in the historical development of the language is impossible without a careful synchronous analysis of the language at certain points in its evolution. A comparison of two different languages is possible only on the basis of a preliminary thorough synchronous analysis of each of them. Finally, according to Saussure, linguistic research is only adequate to its subject when it takes into account both the diachronic and synchronic aspects of language.

The second most important position of Saussure's theory is the distinction between the knowledge of the language by its native speaker and the use of the language in everyday situations. Saussure emphasized that linguists must distinguish between the set of units that form the grammar of a language and are used by all its speakers when constructing phrases in a given language, from the specific utterances of specific speakers, which are variable and unpredictable. Saussure called the set of units common to all speakers language (la langue), and the specific utterances of individual native speakers - speech (la parole). It is language, and not speech, that is the true object of linguistics, since an adequate description of a language must reflect a system of elements known to all its speakers.

Although the need to distinguish between synchronic and diachronic learning of languages is now as obvious to the linguist as the distinction between a native speaker's knowledge of a language and the latter's use of this knowledge, such clarity did not exist in Saussure's era. These distinctions, like many other ideas of the scientist, stimulated the revision of traditional linguistic methods and, according to the famous American linguist Leonard Bloomfield, laid "the theoretical foundation of a new direction of linguistic research."

The Swiss scientist Ferdinand de Saussure is considered to be the founder of structuralism. He is also called the father of the discipline of semiology. The linguistics of the twentieth century would be unthinkable without this man. The influence of the scientist is very diverse. He not only laid the foundation for the Geneva School of Linguistics, but also influenced the philosophical perception of language, speech and their impact on our consciousness. He also pioneered the synchronic approach. That is, the scientist proposed to consider the structure of each language in a certain time period, and not only in historical development. Synchrony played the role of a revolution in linguistics. This approach was used by linguists throughout the twentieth century.

Ferdinand de Saussure: biography

The famous linguist was born in Geneva in November 1857. His parents were migrants from France. When the young man turned eighteen, he entered the University of Leipzig (Germany). As a student, he published his first work on the vowel system in Indo-European languages. It was the first and only book published during his lifetime. In 1880, Ferdinand de Saussure already had a doctorate in science and moved to work in France, because Berlin scientists began to conflict with him, not accepting innovation. He began by teaching Sanskrit in high schools, and then became secretary of the Linguistic Society in Paris. The last years of his life, the scientist lectured at the University of Geneva. He died on February 22, 1913 in the Swiss canton of Vaud (Vuflans).

"Course of General Linguistics"

This work of Ferdinand de Saussure is considered the main and most significant in his work. In fact, it is a course of lectures given by a scientist at a university. There is still a discussion whether this work can be considered wholly owned by the linguist himself, because it was published by two followers of Saussure - Charles Balli and Albert Sechet. The author himself seemed to have no intention of publishing his lectures. In this work, Ferdinand de Saussure defines semiology. He calls it the science of how signs affect the life of society and according to what laws the relationship between society and symbols is carried out. The scientist divides semiology on a functional basis. One part of it is psychological. The other one - linguistic - is designed to find out what significance language has in the system of society. After all, it also consists of signs. Saussure connects the place of linguistics in the system of sciences with the same question.

The difference between language and speech

The problem of such a division is one of the main ones in the work of Ferdinand de Saussure. Language is connected with the concept of the social and the essential. Speech has to do with the individual and the accidental. Language is given to the subject, as it were, from outside; it in itself has a collective character. Speech also presupposes the presence of reflection, will, proper understanding. It is an individual communication tool for each person. Language and speech also differ in that the former is a homogeneous phenomenon. This is a sign system, where the meaning and the image expressed in sounds are combined. Speech, on the other hand, has a physical function (transmitting acoustic waves), it makes the organs with which we speak move. In addition, it carries ideas and concepts associated with sounds. Language and speech, of course, are united with each other and cannot exist without each other. But the latter is, as it were, the basis for the former. After all, speech is only concrete statements of a native speaker, and science should be engaged in the study of a system of elements.

Fundamentals of Saussure's Linguistics

Based on the theory of separation, the scientist suggested that language be considered the main one in the study of all speech phenomena, including psychological and social ones. It is he who is the basis of linguistics as a science. The language system of signs consists of sound images and concepts. The former are tools, while the latter carry meaning. The connection between them is often devoid of internal or natural logic, it is arbitrary, or rather, associative. Nevertheless, acoustic images and semantic concepts are an inseparable whole, like the front and back of a sheet of paper. This unity is called a linguistic entity. They are separated by time. Each of them, taken separately, is a linguistic unit corresponding to the concept.

Values, connections, relationships

The linguistic concepts of Ferdinand de Saussure represent language as a system of signs with a clear structure. But it has its own characteristics. Language is, first of all, a system of values or meanings. So the Swiss linguist called the relationship of one entity or unit to another, which interact like several sheets of one book. But the structure of language cannot be determined positively, but only differentially, that is, by differences in meanings and sounds. That is, each sign is what makes it different from the other. The relations and differences between units and significances are of two kinds. First of all, these are syntagmatic connections. This is how Saussure called the temporal relations between linguistic units, when concepts follow each other during utterances. Associative links are similarities in meaning or sound.

Synchronic approach

Even in his early work, Saussure suggested that in the early Indo-European language, which was the ancestor of Sanskrit, ancient Greek and Latin, there were phonemes, which then disappeared. He called them laringals and, with the help of these lost links, he tried to explain the evolution of languages. His hypothesis turned out to be largely correct. For example, when deciphering the Hittite language, many of the disappeared phonemes (vowel sounds) that Saussure spoke of were found. This was the proof of the later thesis that historical and comparative linguistic research, from the point of view of the scientist, does not make sense without a synchronic approach. In order to understand what changes have taken place in the language, it is necessary to analyze its state in several specific moments of its development. Only then can conclusions be drawn. The combination of both methods of analysis - diachronic and synchronic, that is, comparative and descriptive - is ideal for linguistics.

Structuralism

The term itself appeared in the 19th century in the study of chemistry. It means a set of stable bonds that retain their properties during internal and external changes. Saussure, as we saw above, began to use this term in the study of language. In studies of synchronicity and diachronism, he insisted on supplementing, if not replacing, the evolutionary method with structural analysis. He proposed to study linguistic and sociological phenomena in a way similar to a cut in a mine shaft, when one can single out such iconic constructions that would remain unchanged. The followers of Saussure deduced from this the rule that for science the relationship between the elements of such a system is more important than its components themselves. The linguist for the first time clearly articulated the specifics of the language convincingly, clearly and mathematically precisely. And also substantiated its systemic nature.

Sociological approach

But Ferdinand de Saussure contributed not only to linguistics. The works on linguistics of this scientist influenced sociology and philosophy. And his linguistic theory itself also relied on the methodology of its predecessors - Durkheim and Comte. Saussure is considered the founder of the French sociological school, since his theories went far beyond linguistics. He thought about the meaning of signs in the life of society and its management. With this approach, language plays a major role, primarily as a means of communication. Signs are codes of communication.

Heritage

Saussure, his students and followers created a whole school of scientific views not only about languages, but also about sign systems. It became the foundation of structural linguistics, which was very widespread in the 20th century. Semiology was named by Ferdinand de Saussure himself. Semiotics - such a term was proposed by a colleague of the scientist, the father of the philosophy of pragmatism, Charles Pierce. It was his name that took root more in the past and our century. But Saussure managed to bring linguistics out of the crisis in which it was at the beginning of the 20th century. This man, who was considered one of the brightest minds in linguistics, influenced all the humanities of our time. And even if some of his theories are a little outdated, the basic concepts of Ferdinand de Saussure still underlie 21st century research, including the art of foresight.