Langue and Parole

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

John Phillips (National University of Singapore); Chrissie Tan (National University of Singapore)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.5.2.06: French Writing and Culture: Early Twentieth-century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Kate Averis (University of Western Australia), Hugo Azerad (University of Cambridge), Patrick ffrench (King's College London), Edward Forman (University of Bristol), Akane Kawakami (Birkbeck, University of London), Siobhán McIlvanney (King's College London), Sinan Richards (King's College London), Tim Unwin (University of Bristol), David Williams (University of Sheffield)

Domains

Concept/ Method (language& linguistics)

Dates

Date of occurrence 1915

Places

France (Location)

Resources

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Recommended Reading

The distinction between the French words,

langue

(language or tongue) and

parole

(speech), enters the vocabulary of theoretical linguistics with Ferdinand de Saussure's

Course in General Linguistics

, which was published posthumously in 1915 after having been collated from student notes.

La langue

denotes the abstract systematic principles of a language, without which no meaningful utterance (

parole

) would be possible. The

Course

manifests a shift from the search for origins and ideals, typical of nineteenth century science, to the establishment of “systems”. The modern notion of system is reflected in the title of the course:

General

Linguistics. Saussure in this way indicates that the course will be about language in general: not this or that particular language (Chinese or French)…

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2086 words

Citation: Phillips, John, Chrissie Tan. "Langue and Parole". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 February 2005 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=662, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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Langue and Parole

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