“A linguistic system is a series of differences of sound combined with a series of differences of ideas; but the pairing of a certain number of acoustical signs with as many cuts made from the mass of thought engenders a system of values.”

—  Ferdinand de Saussure, book Course in General Linguistics

Source: Cours de linguistique générale (1916), p. 120

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Ferdinand de Saussure photo
Ferdinand de Saussure17
Swiss linguist 1857–1913

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