Ferdinand de Saussure
Swiss linguist whose posthumously published Course in General Linguistics founded modern structural linguistics and semiotics. His distinction between langue (language as system) and parole (language as use), and between signifier and signified, became the basis for structuralism and poststructuralism. His lectures were reconstructed from student notes.
Works
- Course in General LinguisticsFoundational text establishing semiotics and linguistics as systematic science
- Writings in General LinguisticsCollection of Saussure manuscripts and notes on linguistic theory
- AnagramsLinguistic study of anagrams and poetic structure in ancient Latin texts
- Third Course of Lectures on General LinguisticsLecture notes on foundational concepts of general linguistics and semiology