Say What?

Saussere discusses semiotics, the study of language in relation to its impact on social life. Language is a major part of our lives, and is more involved than I had ever considered.

“Linguistic signs, though basically psychological, are not abstractions; associations which bear the stamp of collective approval—and which added together constitute language are realities that have their seat in the brain. In language there is only the sound-image, and this can be translated into a fixed visual image.”

Language is full of sound-images, words linked to a concept, which bring about a mental picture. When you say toothbrush, someone will have a mental picture of a toothbrush instead of an alligator. While these sound-images may not be completely universal (not everyone will picture the same toothbrush) they are still comparable. We develop these sound-images over time, but many are taught to us at an early age when we are learning language.

“A system of interdependent terms in which the value of each term results solely from the simultaneous presence of the others” (857).

Huge chunks of our language have meaning because of other words, think binaries here. Right and wrong for example, if there was no right, would we have any idea what wrong was? Light and dark, if we never had light would we know dark?

Ferdinand De Saussure. "Course in General Linguistics". ed. Leitch, Vincent B. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. 2nd ed. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2010. Print.