Structuralism: Saussure Flashcards
Ferdinand de Saussure
Course In General Linguistics, pub. 1916
“father of linguistics”
Signifying System
A set of units and rules that creates a method for conveying meaning
The two parts of a linguistic unit (sign)
Concept
Sound Image
“The meaning of any sign
Is found in the association created between the sound image and the concept”
The combination which created the linguistic sign
Signifier and signified
Sound Image
Signifier
Concept
Signified
Principle of arbitrariness
All signs are arbitrary
Synchronic analysis
Structuralists look at a structure or system as if it had always been that way and would always be that way
Linearity and sequentiality of language
The signifier exists in time and that time can be managed as linear. You can’t say or write two words at the same time and have both be intelligible.
Difference
One signifier in a system has value because it is not any other signifiers in a system
Parole
individual use of a language
Value
the sign as it is determined by the other signs in a semiotic system
The value of a sign grows in relation to its external environment within the language system, not from its internal components
Syntagmatic relationships
A syntagmatic relationship is one where signs occur in sequence or parallel and operate together to create meaning
Associative relationship
Coordinations formed outside discourse and, therefore, not supported by linearity. Their seat is in the brain; they are a part of the inner storehouse that makes up the language of each speaker.
