De Saussure Theory of the Sign

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Ferdinand de Saussure was born in Geneva into a family of scientists. He studied Sanskrit and Comparative Linguistics in Geneva, Paris and Leipzig (Kemmer, 2009). De Saussure laid the foundation of modern structural linguistics, and perhaps linguistics in general. His work moved linguistics away from the historical study of languages that was prevalent in the 19th century, developing the discipline as a branch of a broader science of the sign, “semiology.” (Drimmer, 2007) De Saussure developed the theory that language is made up of signs instead of merely reducing it to words used to name things. According to De Saussure, the linguistic sign unites, not a thing and a name, but a concept and a sound image. The sound image is therefore the physical aspect and the concept represents the mental. He further defined these elements as signifier and signified, illustrated below (de Jong, 2009:23) The signifier and the signified together make up a sign, where the signifier is purely physical and has no meaning. The signified is the concept. Therefore, all words in language can be treated as signs, with a signifier and the signified. The signifier and signified work together and if one changes, so does the other. If we look at the “sound-image” and “concept”, De Saussure was referring the mental process involved when referring to a certain “thing”. It is our perception, together with the sound system of our language that creates the part unit referred to as the signifier and signified. The part of the sign Saussure calls the ‘concept’ or ‘meaning’ (mental impression/association of the ‘thing’) he named, ’signified.’ The idea of what ‘Google’ is, for example, is signified. The part he calls the ‘sound-image’ (the mental ‘linguistic sign’ given to the ‘thing’) he named the ‘signifier’ – this is the sound Google’s logo creates in our minds.

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