A linguistic system is a series of differences of sound combined with a series of differences of ideas...
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
Language furnishes the best proof that a law accepted by a community is a thing that is tolerated and not a rule to which all freely consent.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that language reflects societal norms that are accepted rather than universally agreed upon.
Ferdinand De Saussure's quote points to the idea that language serves as evidence that the laws and norms within a community are often merely tolerated by its members instead of being fully accepted or consented to by them. This implies a deeper insight into the nature of social constructs and the influence of language in shaping our understanding of authority and social agreements.
Themes
LanguageLawSocietyConsentCommunity
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on social constructs, this quote can be used to emphasize the difference between law and moral consent.
More from Ferdinand De Saussure
All quotes βLinguistics will have to recognise laws operating universally in language, and in a strictly rational manner, separating general phenomena from those restricted to one branch of languages or another.
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
Psychologically our thought-apart from its expression in words-is only a shapeless and indistinct mass.
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Any psychology of sign systems will be part of social psychology - that is to say, will be exclusively social; it will involve the same psychology as is applicable in the case of languages.
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
Written forms obscure our view of language. They are not so much a garment as a disguise.
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
Speech has both an individual and a social side, and we cannot conceive of one without the other.
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
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