Cognitive Insights in Ferdinand de Saussure’s General Linguistics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22409/Keywords:
linguistic sign, constructional approach, linguistic epistemologyAbstract
This paper develops an epistemological reflection on Ferdinand de Saussure’s linguistic theory, on the assumption that this theory proposes a set of discussions that could be read in relation to the cognitive dimension of language. The main point is that Saussure formulated cognitive insights in his general linguistic theory which were later developed by Cognitive Linguistics. In this vein, the subject of examination includes the notion of linguistic sign, the principle that language is not a nomenclature superimposed on reality, the arbitrariness of the sign and, finally, the systemic view of language. First, it is pointed out that linguistic meaning is treated by Saussure as being conceptual in nature, which brings him closer to Cognitive Linguistics, which also treats meaning as conceptualization and develops, specifically, the notions of conceptual blending and construal. Secondly, it is argued that while Saussure’s notion of sign relates a concept and an acoustic image and, therefore, cannot be directly associated to units such as “the word”, the relationship between the signifying form and the signified can be related to notion of grammatical construction, as proposed by the constructional perspective of Cognitive Linguistics.
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