Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
  1. Home
  2. Books
  3. Saussure
  • Cited by 69
      • Show more authors
      • You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Select format
    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      11 January 2010
      26 April 1991
      ISBN:
      9780511624599
      9780521326186
      9780521339186
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511624599
      Dimensions:
      (216 x 138 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.354kg, 196 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (216 x 138 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.353kg, 196 Pages
      • Subjects:
      History of Philosophy, English Language and Linguistics: General Interest, Language and Linguistics
      Series:
      Modern European Philosophy
    You may already have access via personal or institutional login
    • Selected: Digital
    Add to cart View cart Buy from Cambridge.org
    Subjects:
    History of Philosophy, English Language and Linguistics: General Interest, Language and Linguistics
    Series:
    Modern European Philosophy
    Information

    Book description

    The Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) has exerted a profound influence not only on twentieth century linguistics but on a whole range of disciplines within the humanities and social sciences. His central thesis was that the primary object in studying a language is the state of that language at a particular time – a so-called synchronic study. He went on to claim that a language state is a socially constituted system of signs that are quite arbitrary and that can only be defined in terms of their relationship within the system. This new perspective has changed the way people think about linguistics and has led to important attempts to apply structuralist ideas in anthropology, literary criticism, and philosophy. Professor Holdcroft's book expounds and elaborates Saussure's central ideas. It also offers a critical assessment of them, arguing that many of Saussure's claims are either questionable or have been misunderstood.

    Reviews

    "[Holdcroft's] book, which will disturb orthodox Saussureans and invigorate critical ones, deserves to become the lightning rod foor a new wave of Saussure commentary aimed both at upsetting and furthering its conclusions." Language

    "A concise, clear and sophisticated critique of Saussure's thought, this small book should do much good." Times Literary Supplement

    Refine List

    Actions for selected content:

    Select all | Deselect all
    • View selected items
    • Export citations
    • Download PDF (zip)
    • Save to Kindle
    • Save to Dropbox
    • Save to Google Drive

    Save Search

    You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

    Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
    Cancel
    ×

    Contents

    Contents

    Metrics

    Altmetric attention score

    Full text views

    Total number of HTML views: 0
    Total number of PDF views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    Book summary page views

    Total views: 0 *
    Loading metrics...

    * Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.

    Usage data cannot currently be displayed.

    Accessibility standard: Unknown

    Why this information is here

    This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

    Accessibility Information

    Accessibility compliance for the PDF of this book is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.