HOLLA! Saussure

“To prove that language is only a system of pure values, it is enough to consider the two elements involved in its functioning: ideas and sounds” (5). This being the opening quotation of the text brought clarity to the idea of language and how it can be viewed. Saussure compares language to a sheet of paper; thoughts (ideas) as the front and sounds as the back of the paper. If the front and backside of a sheet of paper cannot be divided either can the ideas and sounds of language. Another comparison, the back and front of a piece of paper makes up a whole piece of paper, without the back and front you would no longer have a piece of paper. Through this comparison the same can be said for language. Ideas and sounds are two elements of language and when comparing language to a piece of paper their elements cannot be extracted. The piece of paper concept gives a visual form to the idea of linguistics/language, which is clearly verbal. So in short, as Saussure says, “linguistics then works in the borderland where the elements of sound and thought combine; their combination produces a form, not a substance” (6). Another point of linguistics/language that interested me was the fact that language is made up of symbols. If language is made up of symbols, whether they be arbitrary or not, then our ideas and sounds are actually produced and grouped into symbols, in return becoming language. Also, language is a shared group of symbols that are common with all countries yet can be made up of different values. For instance, Saussure uses the comparison to ‘sheep’ in English and ‘mutton’ in French. In English ‘sheep’ is the animal and in English ‘mutton’ is a cooked sheep/lamb whereas ‘mutton’ in French only has one meaning. This fact interested me as well because language (symbol wise) is so simple yet its value can be so different and diverse.