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Saussure: Signs, System and Arbitrariness
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Saussure: Signs, System and Arbitrariness Paperback - 1991

by David Holdcroft


From the publisher

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. The book will be read with profit by nonspecialists and could be used as a textbook by students of linguistics, philosophy of language, literary criticism and anthropology.

First line

That the work of Saussure, a Swiss linguist, should be the subject of a book in a series called Modern European Thought should occasion little surprise, for his subject was one to which he made a seminal contribution.

Details

  • Title Saussure: Signs, System and Arbitrariness
  • Author David Holdcroft
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 196
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • Date 1991-04-26
  • ISBN 9780521339186 / 0521339189
  • Weight 0.56 lbs (0.25 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.45 in (21.59 x 13.97 x 1.14 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Linguistics, Saussure, Ferdinand de
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 90048917
  • Dewey Decimal Code 410.92
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Saussure: Signs, System and Arbitrariness (Modern European Philosophy)

Saussure: Signs, System and Arbitrariness (Modern European Philosophy)

by David Holdcroft

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Saussure: Signs, System and Arbitrariness (Modern European Philosophy)

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Paperback / softback. New. Professor Holdcroft's book expounds and elaborates Saussure's central ideas - that the primary object in studying a language is the state of that language at a particular time - a so-called synchronic study. It also offers a critical assessment of them, arguing that many of Saussure's claims are either questionable or have been misunderstood.
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Saussure: Signs, System and Arbitrariness (Modern European Philosophy)
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Saussure: Signs, System and Arbitrariness (Modern European Philosophy)

by Holdcroft, David

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Saussure: Signs, System and Arbitrariness (Modern European Philosophy)
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Saussure: Signs, System and Arbitrariness (Modern European Philosophy)

by Holdcroft, David

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