Ferdinand de Saussure: entre a língua e as línguas

Abstract

The concept of language thought by Ferdinand de Saussure and made public through the Course in General Linguistics (CLG) in 1916 can be considered a watershed in the history of linguistic studies. From this concept, it was possible to grant autonomy to Linguistics, giving it its place among the modern sciences. However, with the reception of the CLG in various parts of the world throughout the twentieth century, some criticisms of this concept were established, many of which are based on the consideration of language strictly as a formal object that moves away from its relationship with empirical and social phenomena. Nevertheless, in our view, in the content of the CLG itself it is possible to note that the delimitation of language as Linguistics’ object of study is not unrelated to socially instituted facts. This can be seen when Saussure deliberately or unintentionally evokes particular languages in their language-delimiting trajectory as a system of signs, establishing an intimate relationship between theory and empiricism. Considering this, this work is guided by the hypothesis that, within Saussurean theorizing, language, as an object of study of Linguistics, cannot be completely formalized. In order to think about this hypothesis, we first analyze three documents in which Saussure develop the study of particular languages: the manuscript set Versification Française, a notebook entitled Cahier Parny, and the folder number 18 in the Notes sur l'étymologie des noms de lieux de la Suisse romande et sur les patois romands et chablaisiens. By analyzing these materials, we aim to understand Saussure's treatment of languages so that we can contrast it with the way the linguist deals with language, understood as a general system. To make this contrast possible, we investigate other Saussure documents that fall within the scope of General Linguistics: the manuscript set Première conférence, the Notes pour le Cours III, and the CLG itself.