A linguistic system is a series of differences of sound combined with a series of differences of ideas...
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
Psychologically our thought-apart from its expression in words-is only a shapeless and indistinct mass.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our thoughts are formless and vague until we express them in words.
Ferdinand De Saussure suggests that without verbal expression, our thoughts remain ambiguous and lack a clear structure. Language plays a vital role in shaping and clarifying our mental processes, enabling us to communicate our ideas effectively.
Themes
ThoughtsLanguageExpressionCommunicationPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the importance of language in conveying complex ideas.
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.
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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.
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Written forms obscure our view of language. They are not so much a garment as a disguise.
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Speech has both an individual and a social side, and we cannot conceive of one without the other.
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Everyone, left to his own devices, forms an idea about what goes on in language which is very far from the truth.
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