A linguistic system is a series of differences of sound combined with a series of differences of ideas. — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
Written forms obscure our view of language. They are not so much a garment as a disguise. — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
Time changes all things; there is no reason why language should escape this universal law — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
Henceforth, language studies were no longer directed merely towards correcting grammar. — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
A language presupposes that all the individual users possess the organs. — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
The critical principle demanded an examination, for instance, of the contribution of different periods, thus to some extent embarking on historical linguistics. — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
The business, task or object of the scientific study of languages will if possible be 1) to trace the history of all… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
Of all social institutions language is least amenable to initiative. It blends with the life of society, and the latter, inert by… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
It is useful to the historian, among others, to be able to see the commonest forms of different phenomena, whether phonetic, morphological… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
The first of these phases is that of grammar, invented by the Greeks and carried on unchanged by the French. It never… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
Everyone, left to his own devices, forms an idea about what goes on in language which is very far from the truth. — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
Linguistics will have to recognise laws operating universally in language, and in a strictly rational manner, separating general phenomena from those restricted… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
The very special place that a language occupies among institutions is undeniable, but there is much more to be said-, a comparison… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
In the lives of individuals and societies, language is a factor of greater importance than any other. For the study of language… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
In fact, from then on scholars engaged in a kind of game of comparing different Indo-European languages with one another, and eventually… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
The ultimate law of language is, dare we say, that nothing can ever reside in a single term. This is a direct… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
Outside speech, the association that is made in the memory between words having something in common creates different groups, series, families, within… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
In general, the philological movement opened up countless sources relevant to linguistic issues, treating them in quite a different spirit from traditional… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
Language furnishes the best proof that a law accepted by a community is a thing that is tolerated and not a rule… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
Any psychology of sign systems will be part of social psychology - that is to say, will be exclusively social; it will… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
Within speech, words are subject to a kind of relation that is independent of the first and based on their linkage: these… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
Whitney wanted to eradicate the idea that in the case of a language we are dealing with a natural faculty; in fact,… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
It is one of the aims of linguistics to define itself, to recognise what belongs within its domain. In those cases where… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share Image
Nearly all institutions, it might be said, are based on signs, but these signs do not directly evoke things. — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share
In general, the philological movement opened up countless sources relevant to linguistic issues, treating them in quite a different spirit from traditional grammar; for… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share
The ultimate law of language is, dare we say, that nothing can ever reside in a single term. This is a direct consequence of… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share
It is useful to the historian, among others, to be able to see the commonest forms of different phenomena, whether phonetic, morphological or other,… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share
It is only since linguistics has become more aware of its object of study, i.e. perceives the whole extent of it, that it is… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share
A language presupposes that all the individual users possess the organs. — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share
Of all social institutions language is least amenable to initiative. It blends with the life of society, and the latter, inert by nature, is… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share
The business, task or object of the scientific study of languages will if possible be 1) to trace the history of all known languages.… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share
The first of these phases is that of grammar, invented by the Greeks and carried on unchanged by the French. It never had any… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share
Written forms obscure our view of language. They are not so much a garment as a disguise. — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share
Everyone, left to his own devices, forms an idea about what goes on in language which is very far from the truth. — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share
Time changes all things; there is no reason why language should escape this universal law — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share
Linguistics will have to recognise laws operating universally in language, and in a strictly rational manner, separating general phenomena from those restricted to one… — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share
I’m almost never serious, and I’m always too serious. Too deep, too shallow. Too sensitive, too cold hearted. I’m like a collection of paradoxes. — Ferdinand de Saussure Copy Share
