The structuralist Legacy: Saussurean Linguistics And its projections in French Semiotics

Abstract

This article aims to present a theoretical review of the linguistic phenomenon from the perspective of the structural approach to language, known as Structuralism, highlighting its significance over the decades and demonstrating its continued applicability and relevance in contemporary studies on language and linguistics. A particular focus will be placed on its direct relationship with the development of French Semiotics. Although Structuralism has led to various branches within modern Linguistics, this discussion will be limited to the Structuralism developed by Ferdinand de Saussure, given that he granted language a unique status and established fundamental principles for the constitution of Linguistics as a scientific discipline within the modern scientific framework. Thus, this study will examine the Saussurean dichotomies that underpin this theoretical model, namely: langue and parole, signifier and signified (with special emphasis on this pair, as it serves as the foundation for the aforementioned semiotic approach), syntagm and paradigm, and synchrony and diachrony. Furthermore, this article intends to provide an overview of the historical progression of linguistic studies up to the present, with particular attention to the developments introduced by Hjelmslev's Glossematics and Greimasian Semiotics.