A linguistic system is a series of differences of sound combined with a series of differences of ideas...
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
The very special place that a language occupies among institutions is undeniable, but there is much more to be said-, a comparison would tend rather to bring out the differences.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Language holds a unique position among institutions, and understanding it requires recognizing its distinct qualities.
Ferdinand De Saussure highlights the significance of language within the framework of societal institutions. He suggests that while it is essential to acknowledge the special role language plays, a deeper analysis should focus on its uniqueness and the complexities that distinguish it from other institutions, implying that language is a foundation for understanding human communication and social interaction.
Themes
LanguageInstitutionsCommunicationSocietyPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about the role of language in education, one could quote Saussure to emphasize the importance of understanding language beyond mere words.
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.
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
Similar quotes
America is said to have the highest per capita boredom of any spot on earth! We know that because we have the greatest number of artificial amusements of any country. People have become so empty that they can't even entertain themselves. They have to pay other people to amuse them, to make then laugh, to try to make them feel warm and happy and comfortable for a few minutes, to try to lose that awful, frightening, hollow feeling-that terrible, dreaded feeling of being lost and alone.
Billy GrahamRead
Society is endangered not by the great profligacy of a few, but by the laxity of morals amongst all.
Alexis De TocquevilleRead
there they laugh: they do not understand me; I am not the mouth for these ears.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
Political language... is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
George OrwellRead
In the socialist commonwealth every economic change becomes an undertaking whose success can be neither appraised in advance nor later retrospectively determined. There is only groping in the dark. Socialism is the abolition of rational economy.
Ludwig Von MisesRead
In the ancient world individuals have sold themselves as slaves, in order to eat. So in society. Here is a witch-doctor who can save us from the sorcerers - a war-lord who can save us from the barbarians - a Church that can save us from Hell. Give them what they ask, give ourselves to them bound and blindfold, if only they will! Perhaps the terrible bargain will be made again. We cannot blame men for making it. We can hardly wish them not to. Yet we can hardly bear that they should.
C. S. LewisRead