A linguistic system is a series of differences of sound combined with a series of differences of ideas...
Ferdinand De SaussureRead
Nearly all institutions, it might be said, are based on signs, but these signs do not directly evoke things.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that institutions use symbols to represent ideas, rather than the ideas themselves being directly represented.
Ferdinand De Saussure highlights the distinction between signs and the things they represent in institutional contexts. He argues that institutions rely on symbolic communication, such as language and signs, which do not directly connect to the actual objects or concepts they signify. This insight is meaningful in understanding how meaning is constructed within societies, underpinning the relationship between language and social structures.
Themes
SignsInstitutionsSymbolsLanguageMeaning
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture about semiotics, one might use this quote to illustrate how institutions communicate.
More from Ferdinand De Saussure
All quotes βLinguistics will have to recognise laws operating universally in language, and in a strictly rational manner, separating general phenomena from those restricted to one branch of languages or another.
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Psychologically our thought-apart from its expression in words-is only a shapeless and indistinct mass.
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Any psychology of sign systems will be part of social psychology - that is to say, will be exclusively social; it will involve the same psychology as is applicable in the case of languages.
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Written forms obscure our view of language. They are not so much a garment as a disguise.
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Speech has both an individual and a social side, and we cannot conceive of one without the other.
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