Course in General Linguistics

This book is not particularly difficult; it's a bit dry, but what can you expect from a linguistics class? If you read it carefully, you'll have no problem grasping what he is saying... and, when you are done, you will be well on your way to understanding what people like Lacan, Derrida and Foucault are trying to say. (You'll also be well along your way to understanding Claude Levi-Strauss, who attempted to do for anthropology what Saussure did for linguistics). If you want to understand modern philosophy, Saussure is as indispensible as Marx or Freud. Combine this with *Saussure for Beginners* and you'll pick up Saussure's train of thought in no time.


A must for any English Major!!!   February 13, 2005
Christopher J. Sugar (Rochester, NY)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

If you need to know the foundation of structuralism then you need to read this book. This is where it all begins and the translation of this edition flows well and is perfect for the beginner and novice alike.

One problem with this translation that potential readers should be aware of: If you are reading this to get a better understanding of the terms used by structuralists (signifier and signified) then you need to get the other version. This edition uses the words signification and signal.

Although the rest of text is fine, the exclusion of signifier and signified is, I believe, the only major drawback to the book since these were the terms adopted by structuralist and post-structuralist.


The central concepts of linguistics   July 13, 2005
Vinay Varma (India)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

This book comprised from lecture notes of Saussure to his students in Geneva (compiled posthumously by his students) is a work which changed the course of lingustics since its publication. In this book he makes distinctions which have later become central to discussions of linguistics like:

1. Sign as the unity of signifier (letters, sounds, image) and signified (meaning implied by the signifier)
2. Language (langage) as the unity of langue (code - language as a system) and parole (usage)
3. Syncrhonic (language as static system) and diachronic lingustics (langauge as an ever changing, evolving system)
4. Retrospective (language evolution so far) and prospective linguistics (future evolution of a language).

Many linguists have added a cloud of debate over these concepts, but non explains as lucidly as the master who propounded these. For those confused bout semiotics, semiology etc., this work is a reference point for the original meaning of the term 'semiology' as intended by Saussure. Many of Saussure's binary distinctions became the central to an approach to social sciences called structuralism which still holds sway in social sciences.


The Essential De Saussure ...   November 8, 2005
Fateh A. Bazerbashi (Damascus-Syria)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

The thirties of the last century cradled the birth and growth of structuralist Linguistcs in many horizons like phonology ,grammar , etc ... and if we were about to ask who embraced that stream , we would - undebatably - find the name of Ferdinand De Saussure.

This fine book of his explained his structural approach to language and established a series of theoretical distinctions that have become basic to the study of linguistics.

Saussure made a differentiation between the (actual speech) or what we call a spoken language ,and the knowledge underlying speech that speakers share about (what is) grammatical.
For Saussure speech represents instances of grammar and the mission of the linguist is to find the underlying rules of a particular language from examples found in speech.
this is different than the descriptivist's p.o.v ,since the structuralist sees grammar as a set of relationships that account for speech ,rather than a set of instances of speech.

Once you grasp the main concepts of this oeuvre you can go further by reading Bloomfield's works on Structuralism.



Saussure = Five Stars, This Edition = Zero Stars   September 4, 2009
Steward Willons (Illinois)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

What is there to say about Ferdinand de Saussure's most important work that I could possibly say in a short Amazon review? This is a foundational work of incredible importance. If you're looking at this listing, I probably don't need to sell you on the book itself.

My comments strictly pertain to this particular edition (ISBN 978-1443253352 - Philosophical Library publishing) because I found it very disappointing. I assumed that because the publishing date was later, there had been some improvement to the translation, a new critical introduction, or some other such feature. There are no such features to be found. You get Saussure's text and that's it.

The real outrage is in the incredibly poor printing. Much of the book looks like it's actually a photo-copy. In fact, a number of pages have blemishes on the text, as if there was a hair between the page and Xerox machine. It literally looks like this edition was photo-copied from a previous edition. I've never seen anything like it.

My advice is to avoid this edition and buy one of the earlier, more inexpensive ones. You're certainly not getting any additional quality for the increased price. This will be the last title I purchase from Philosophical Library Publishers.

Fredinand de Saussure's Course in General Linguistics - FIVE Stars
This edition - ZERO Stars