Ferdinand de Saussure: biography of this pioneer of linguistics

By distinguishing between signifier and signified, Saussure changed the way we look at language.

Ferdinand de Saussure is known as the founder of modern linguistics and semiotics, as well as one of the precursors of structuralism and poststructuralism. This is so because, among other things, he proposed to reorganize the systematic study of language. However, his life and work had an impact not only in this area.

Together with some of his contemporaries, Saussure contributed important elements to create new bases for the study of human behavior. In the following we will review the life of Ferdinand Ferdinand Saussure. a review of Ferdinand de Saussure's life through a brief biography and present some of his contributions. and we present some of his contributions.

Biography of Ferdinand de Saussure, pioneer of linguistics.

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) was born in Geneva, Switzerland. From an early age he learned several languages, such as Greek, French, German, English and Latin.. After growing up in a family of scientists, he studied natural sciences at the University of Geneva.

He later trained in linguistics at the University of Leipzig, where he received his doctorate in 1881. After this he taught courses in ancient and modern languages in Paris, and in 1891 he returned to Geneva.

In his native city he worked as a professor of Sanskrit and historical linguistics. It was until 1906 when he taught the course of General Linguistics, which directed much of his attention and that of other intellectuals until today.

Ferdinand de Saussure developed the theory of the signs that we know as semioticas well as other aspects of the linguistic tradition. However, the impact of his work quickly spread to other fields of knowledge.

From linguistics to the study of human behavior

Along with other intellectuals of his time, Saussure contributed many of the bases for the development of different approaches to human behavior. Following the North American linguist Jonathan D. Culler (1986), we will explain four of the repercussions that Saussure's work has had on the social sciences.

1. Human systems do not function in the same way as the physical world.

Saussure realized that understanding about human practices and institutions cannot be complete if we reduce explanations about our behavior to a series of events that occur just like events in the physical world. This is because he considers that, unlike the systems of the physical world, interaction and the objects that make up a human social system have meanings..

That is why, in studying the behavior of human beings, researchers cannot simply disregard or omit the meanings that things and actions have for members of a society. For example, if people consider some action to be impolite or impolite, this is a convention, a social fact crucial for social interaction and for individual practices. Thus, the linguistic sign has, for Saussure, two components: signifier (the word) and signified (the concept to which the word appeals)..

2. Development of semiotics and precursor of structuralism

Among other things, Saussure developed a general science of signs and sign systems. (semiotics), as well as some of the bases of structuralism, a current that proposes that sociocultural systems are delimited by a key structure: language.

This was especially relevant for the development of anthropology, modern linguistics and literary criticism, however, a few decades later it also had repercussions on a large part of psychology and sociology. In general, it allowed to rethink the social sciences.

3. Answers to the chaos of modern thought

The proposals of Saussure, also clarified great part of the modern thought, that is to say, the form in which the scientists, the philosophers, the artists or the writers tried to represent and explain the phenomena of the world..

His work paved the way for generating new paradigms of knowledge: the idea that the scientist cannot obtain absolute knowledgeHe always chooses or assumes a perspective under which objects are defined by their relations with other elements of the same system (beyond the fact that objects have a fixed essence that can be discovered).

4. Relationship between language and mind

The way in which Saussure explains language allows us to focus attention on a problem that is central to the human sciences, especially to those concerned with the relationship between language and the mind.

Saussure sees humans as beings whose relations with the world are characterized by two mental operations that clearly manifest themselves in language: structuring and differentiation.. Part of Saussure's thought is present in the consideration that there is a tendency of human beings to organize things in systems through which different meanings are transmitted.

Main works

The most known and studied work of Ferdinand de Saussure is Cours de linguistique générale (Course in general linguistics), which was published three years after his death, in 1916. In fact, this work has been considered one of the most influential works of the 20th century, not only for linguistics but also for the social sciences.. However, this work is the product of the compilation made by his colleagues Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye, who recovered the lectures and written notes of Saussure's students.

One of his first works, which was published while he was studying for his doctorate, was Mémoire sur le système primitif des voyelles dans les langues indo-européennes (Memory of the Primitive Vowel System in Indo-European Languages), in which he discusses how the original he discusses how the original Indo-European vowels can be reconstructed. This was one of his beginnings in philology and linguistics.

Bibliographical references:

• Culler, J. (1986). Ferdinand de Saussure. Revised Edition. Cornell University Press: USA.
• New World Encyclopedia. (2016). Ferdinand de Saussure. New World Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 15, 2018. Available at http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Ferdinand_de_Saussure