How does Saussure’s distinction between parole and langue explain communication?

Ferdinand de Saussure’s distinction between langue and parole is fundamental to understanding how communication functions as a social and individual process.

• Langue refers to the abstract, underlying system of conventions, rules, and structures of a language shared by a community. It is the collective framework that exists independently of any single speaker.12
• Parole refers to the actual, individual acts of speech or performance—the specific utterances produced by a person in a given context.13

Communication is explained by the interplay between these two concepts: parole represents the concrete instances of language use, while langue provides the necessary shared system of signs and rules that makes those individual utterances meaningful and understandable to others within the same society. Without the structured conventions of langue, individual acts of parole would lack the social coherence required for successful communication. By separating these components, Saussure highlighted that while communication occurs through individual speech, it is only possible because of the stable, systematic structure of language that speakers collectively inhabit.42