A linguistic system is a series of differences of sound combined with a series of differences of ideas...
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
Linguistics 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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Linguistics must identify universal principles in language, distinguishing them from language-specific features.
Ferdinand De Saussure emphasizes the importance of recognizing universal laws that govern all languages, calling for a rational and analytical approach to the study of linguistics. This distinction between general linguistic phenomena and those specific to individual languages is crucial for a deeper understanding of language as a whole.
Themes
LinguisticsLanguageUniversal LawsPhenomenaAnalysis
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on linguistics, one might use this quote to highlight the importance of a scientific approach to language study.
More from Ferdinand De Saussure
All quotes →Psychologically our thought-apart from its expression in words-is only a shapeless and indistinct mass.
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
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
Everyone, left to his own devices, forms an idea about what goes on in language which is very far from the truth.
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
Similar quotes
Books permit us to voyage through time, to tap the wisdom of our ancestors.
Carl SaganRead
It's important to make a distinction between the news and journalism. The news is about recent, incidental and sensational events. It's mostly about exceptions.
Rutger BregmanRead
If I were again beginning my studies, I would follow the advice of Plato and start with mathematics.
Galileo GalileiRead
They told me that, as a woman, I'd never get into graduate school in physics, so they got me a job as a secretary at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and promised that, if I were a good girl, I would take courses there.
Rosalyn Sussman YalowRead
We read deeply for varied reasons, most of them familiar: that we cannot know enough people profoundly enough; that we need to know ourselves better; that we require knowledge, not just of self and others, but of the way things are. Yet the strongest, most authentic motive for deep reading…is the search for a difficult pleasure.
Harold BloomRead
If the tongue had not been framed for articulation, man would still be a beast in the forest.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead