La langue, the Proper Object of Linguistics

Abstract

According to the dominant structuralist view, a language system (la langue) can be approached on its own, independently of speech (la parole) as well as the plurality of world languages (les langues). Bally and Sechehaye established this presumed autonomy of the language system by means of dubitable editorial strategies. They inserted an apocryphal statement, according to which language (la langue) is a single and simple object of linguistic study, into the conclusion of the Course in General Linguistics, and they subsequently cited it in dedicated book reviews and specialized essays in linguistics. This so-called famous formula became a structuralist motto. It created an impression of a seamless transition from Saussureanism to structuralism. Furthermore, the editorial presentation of Saussure’s argument in the Introduction to the Course tends to overstate the distinction between la langue and la parole such that la langue alone is deemed an object worthy of scientific interest.