Course in General Linguistics by Ferdinand de Saussure

Author:Ferdinand de Saussure [Saussure, Ferdinand de]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, pdf
Tags: French Literature, Science, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Semiotics
ISBN: 9781472505385
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 1915-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

[151]

The mechanism of a language turns entirely on identities and differences. The latter are merely counterparts of the former. The problem of identities crops up everywhere. It merges in part with the problem of entities and units, to which it adds complications. But the complications are valuable complications. Let us examine the problem of identity in linguistics in the light of some non-linguistic examples. We assign identity, for instance, to two trains (‘the 8.45 from Geneva to Paris’), one of which leaves twenty-four hours after the other. We treat it as the ‘same’ train, even though probably the locomotive, the carriages, the staff etc: are not the same. Or if a street is demolished and then rebuilt, we say it is the same street, although there may be physically little or nothing left of the old one. How is it that a street can be reconstructed entirely and still be the same? Because it is not a purely material structure. It has other characteristics which are independent of its bricks and mortar; for example, its situation in relation to other streets. Similarly, the train is identified by its departure time, its route, and any other features which distinguish it from other trains. Whenever the same conditions are fulfilled, the same entities reappear. But they are not abstractions. The street and the train are real enough. Their physical existence is essential to our understanding of what they are.

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