Course in General Linguistics

Saussure’s lectures

Also known as: “Cours de linguistique générale”

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June 25, 2026

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The Course in General Linguistics is a foundational text in 20th-century structural linguistics, based on lectures by Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure. Saussure viewed language as a social phenomenon and a structured system. He distinguished between langue, the underlying, systematic structure of language within a society, and parole, the individual's actual use of language. This distinction, along with his focus on the relationships between linguistic elements, laid the groundwork for structuralism. Saussure's ideas also influenced the broader field of semiotics, the study of signs and symbols.1234

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- Ferdinand de Saussure
  …Cours de linguistique générale (1916; Course in General Linguistics), a reconstruction of his lectures on the basis of notes by students carefully prepared by his junior colleagues Charles Bally and Albert Séchehaye. The publication of his work is considered the starting point of 20th-century structural linguistics.
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  …Cours de linguistique générale (1916; Course in General Linguistics), a reconstruction of his lectures on the basis of notes by students carefully prepared by his junior colleagues Charles Bally and Albert Séchehaye. The publication of his work is considered the starting point of 20th-century structural linguistics.
  Read More

linguistics
Structural linguistics in Europe
…Cours de Linguistique Générale (Course in General Linguistics) of Ferdinand de Saussure. Much of what is now considered as Saussurean can be seen, though less clearly, in the earlier work of Humboldt, and the general structural principles that Saussure was to develop with respect to synchronic linguistics in the…
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…Cours de Linguistique Générale (Course in General Linguistics) of Ferdinand de Saussure. Much of what is now considered as Saussurean can be seen, though less clearly, in the earlier work of Humboldt, and the general structural principles that Saussure was to develop with respect to synchronic linguistics in the…
Read More