Abstract
Almost all the basic ideas in structural linguistics can be traced back to Ferdinand de Saussure’s “Cours de linguistique générale”. We shall start our survey of the main trends and features of structural linguistic description by discussing the concept of linguistic sign which is essential for understanding not only Saussure’s own system but also many of the modern applications of his ideas, and modern structuralism as a whole.
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Bibliographical Notes
S. Ullman has treated the concepts of sign and symbol in his recent book “Semantics. An Introduction into the Science of Meaning”, 1962.
Ullman does not himself make any distinction between them. — For the general ideas about the linguistic sign before Saussure, see in the first place the works of Wilhelm von Humboldt (“Über die Verschiedenheit”, quoted in the Introduction; id., “Sprachphilosophische Werke”, published by H. Steinthal, 1884, and his famous “Über die Kawi-Sprache der Insel Java”, I —III, 1836–39). In a recent paper (“Les origines du structuralisme”, 1962), B. Collinder has questioned the originality of Saussure’s ideas which he traces as far back as the Sanskrit grammarian Panini. Sir Alan Gardiner has exposed his theories in “Theory of Speech and Language” (2nd ed., 1960).
See also R. Jakobson, “Linguistics and Communication Theory” /Proceedings of Symposia in Applied Mathematical Aspects; American Mathematical Society, 1961; pp.245–262/.
Herdan’s book will be referred to in following chapters (particularly in Chap. III). The quotation from Hjelmslev is taken from “Prolegomena”, p. 58. Most American linguists, from Bloomfield onwards, have regarded language as one hierarchy. Later scholars, however, have adopted an attitude more similar to that of Saussure and Hjelmslev (cp. Hockett, “A Course in Modern Linguistics”, 1958, etc., and Rulon S. Wells, “Proceedings of the VIIIth International Congress of Linguistics”, Oslo 1958, pp.654–666; cf. also J. Greenberg, “Essays in Linguistics”, 1957). The quotations from “Cours” are to be found on pp.164, 151, and 167 respectively. Cf. also the works of the Swiss Anton Marty (publ. by Otto Funke, e.g. “Psyche und Sprachstruktur, A.M.’s nachgelassene Schriften”, 1940; and “Innere Sprachform, eine Einführung in A.M.’s Sprachphilosophie”, 1924). For onomatopoeic word creation and its possible role for the development of language, see e.g. G. Révesz, “Ursprung und Vorgeschichte der Sprache”, 1946 (who believes it must have been minimal and rejects more or less the so-called “wow-wow”-theory);
B. Collinder in “Studia linguistica” III, 1949, pp.118–123, and the recent works of B. Rosenkranz, “Der Ursprung der Sprache”, 1961, particularly pp. 15ff-, and E. Rossi, “Die Entstehung der Sprache und des menschlichen Geistes”, 1962. Instances of primitive sound imitation are given in my book “Die Quantität als phonetisch-phonologischer Begriff”, 1944 (e.g. p.58), with references.
B. Collinder For the concepts of “signe motivé” and “signe arbitraire”, see “Cours”, pp. 100–101 and 181.
B. Collinder A similar approach to the problem of sign and “meaning” is to be found in L. Weisgerber’s works (e.g. “Vom Weltbild der deutschen Sprache”, I –III, 1953 – 54; “Sprachwissenschaftliche Methodenlehre”, 1950), and in H. Glinz (the work quoted in the Introduction).
B. Collinder A work of fundamental importance is Fr. Kainz, “Psychologie der Sprache” (I—IV, 1941 – 1956). See for the linguistic sign particularly Vol.1, p.67ss. Other works of fundamental importance for our discussion are A. Gardiner’s “The Theory of Speech and Language” (quoted above); Ogden-Richards, “The Meaning of Meaning”, 1923 and following editions (with a different interpretation of the concepts); further H. Spang-Hanssen, “Recent Theories on the Nature of the Linguistic Sign”, 1954;
P. Diderichsen, “Semantiske problemer i logik og ling-vistik”, 1953;
Pierre Naert, “Arbitraire et nécessaire en linguistique” /Studia linguistica I, 1947, pp. 5 – 10/;
and Niels Ege, “Le signe linguistique est arbitraire” /Travaux du Cercle linguistique de Copenhague V, 1949, pp. 11–29/. — For Hjelmslev’s linguistic theory and glossematics, see his works quoted in the Introduction (passim). For correlation and relation, see “Prolegomena”, p. 38.
Niels Ege, Saussure’s famous solution of the problem of Indo-European vowels and laryngeals was published under the heading “Mémoires sur le système primitif des voyelles indo-européennes”, 1879. The quotations from “Cours” on p. 13 are to be found on pp.151 and 167. — For the “phonological” doctrine, see Tru-betzkoy’s and Jakobson’s works, quoted in the Introduction.
Niels Ege, For Martinet’s conception, see “Cahiers F. de Saussure” XV, 1957, pp. 105 – 116; and also “Éléments”, particularly p. 17ss. — E. Sapir was in a certain sense a fore-runner to American structuralism (“Introduction to the Study of Speech”, 1921). Numerous contributions to the exegesy of the “Cours” have been given in the review “Cahiers F. de Saussure” (up to now 22 volumes, 1941 ff.). — The French sociologist Émile Durkheim published for instance “De la division du travail social”, 1893; and “Les formes élémentaires de la vie religieuse”, 1912. His countryman Lucien Lévy-Bruhl has written among other works “La mentalité primitive”, 1922, “L’âme primitive”, 1927, and “L’expérience mystique et les symboles chez les primitifs”, 1938.
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© 1967 Springer-Verlag Berlin · Heidelberg
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Malmberg, B. (1967). Signs and Symbols. The Linguistic Sign. In: Structural Linguistics and Human Communication. Kommunikation und Kybernetik in Einzeldarstellungen, vol 2. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-88301-9_2
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