Chapter 2 9/28

In this chapter, Ferdinand Saussure, one of the founders of semiotics (a science that studies the life of signs within society), discusses how signs work in regards to language. The linguist begins to explain the difference between language, which he describes as a system of signs that expresses ideas, and speech, which cannot be classified. Language unites a concept and a sound-image, defined as the impression a sound makes on our senses. The combination of both a concept and sound-image makes up a sign. Saussure then goes on to explain, “the relationship that exists between a signified and signifier are arbitrary and based on convention.” By this, he means that the meaning of words not only change over time, but based on each person as well. This brings me to a couple of the key words in the chapter: signified (concept) and signifier (sound-image). Saussure believes words get their meaning based on being opposite of other words. If Saussure’s theories are correct, language structures the way we think as human beings. In the ad I brought to class, the signifier would be the employees pictured in the computer screen. This signified the fact that Dell will always be there to provide customer service for a user of their product.