According to Saussure, language is nothing but a complex system of signs.

By a sign, we
mean something that stands for an idea or a concept. For example red color is an indicator
of danger, green light stands for go, etc.

Let us explain main points of Saussure's sign theory using a simplified example. If we want
to represent anything like “tree” (just imagine the brown trunk structure with green leaves,
flowers, etc. that you have already seen in parks or elsewhere), we simply write a word with
four letters: t-r-e-e.

Now, these four written letters (t-r-e-e) can be called as signifiers as they signify a “concept”,
i.e. the actual, physical tree (that you imagine looking at these letters). Note that these
individual letters (just say the letter “t”) are also signs that combine to form the signifier “tree”.
This is the first point of his theory.

Also, the relationship between signifier and signified is arbitrary, i.e. there is no real,
understandable relationship between the sign and what it signfies. Have you ever thought
why these four letters t-r-e-e only represent the concept “tree”? There is nothing in the word
itself or letters that looks like or resembles the actual tree. It is purely a matter of convention.
Each community chooses to say and follow these conventions. This is why every concept is
called with different names in different languages.

ASHLEY KANNAN | CERTIFIED EDUCATOR

The specific features of de Saussure's sign theory of language seeks to rest on two elements
that prompt a great deal of thought and inquiry. For de Saussure, the sign theory of how
language operates in terms of the dynamics of signifier and signified becomes incredibly
important. It is this element of combining both the verbal development of language and what
language signifies to the social group that helps to form the basis of de Saussure's sign
theory of language.

de Saussure's point was that in foreign languages, one of his specialty, different words
signify the same experience even through they are not near one another. The German word
for "Dog" is vastly different from the Spanish word for "Dog." ("Hund" and "Pero.") Yet, they
both end up meaning the same construction for what we consider to be the animal. de
Saussure suggests that language has a signified function in that the specific use of language
refers to a specific signified meaning that is shared. The sign theory of language rests upon
the understanding of both signifier and signified. This is a distinctive feature of the de
Saussure's sign theory of language.
synchronic and diachronic As discussed in the prior answer, Saussure was
interested in introducing scientific rigor to the study of language, with specific emphasis
on languages in their current form. In so doing, he not only separated the actual
expression of language from the abstract rules and structure of language, he also drew a
distinction between the study of language as it is used by current speakers and study of
the historical development and context of languages. The study of current language use
is called synchronic linguistics, and the study of the historical aspects of language, and
the relationships between languages, is called diachronic linguistics.

Before structural linguistics, the school of linguistics of which many people consider
Saussure the father, the primary focus of linguistics was philology, which is the study of
the structure and historical development of languages, as well as the relationship of
languages to each other. In other words, the study of language before the advent of
structural linguistics was primarily diachronic in nature, focusing on the history and
relationships of particular languages more than on the how people used language.

Saussure was among the first scholars to separate the study of the historical
development and relationships of a language from the synchronic study of the extant
languages themselves, as well as language as an abstract system. He was interested
more in how people actually used language (parole), and in the abstract system of rules
and conventions of language (langue) than on how the languages came to be and how
they were related. He also believed that it was through the synchronic study of language
that we could understand what language really is.

This shift in focus from diachrony to synchrony in the study of language marked a change
in linguistics, moving the field away from philology and toward the study of speech and
the psychological aspects of language. Saussure was at the forefront of this shift, and his
separation of the study of language into synchronic and diachronic helped create a way of
understanding the study of language that colored linguistics throughout the 20th century.