I thought that Saussure’s writing was much easier to understand that the past readings that we have read. I felt that it was much clearer, although I didn’t exactly understand everything. I was thrilled that it was easier reading just for the simple fact that I just handed in my English writing sample and my brain is quite fried, but we’ll see what jumbled thoughts come out.
There was a lot of interesting points in this piece. I really enjoyed reading the characteristics of language starting on page 960. I think my favorite one is number 3. Saussure states that “Whereas speech is heterogeneous, language, as defined, is homogeneous. It is a system of signs in which the only essential thing is the union of meaning and sound-images, and in which both parts of the sign are psychological”. I think I understood this one the best. Maybe this is because we did touch on some of this is Barry’s piece. I never really thought of signs. It just never really clicked to me and I’m not really sure why because it does make so much sense. I did not realize how crucial the meanings and sound-images are to each other until I really thought about it. If we did not have a union of meanings and sound-images, there would be no language, or at least not common ones that one group of people have.
I have to say, I did enjoy the pictures! It’s a nice break from all the reading. I thought they were also very helpful in understanding his points. Especially starting on page 963. I thought that the “Arbor” and “Equos” drawings helped me understand what exactly he was trying to say. Like many, I believe that I am a visual learner, so naturally the pictures helped. If you think about it, “ready-made ideas exist before words; it does not tell us whether a name is vocal or psychological in nature….” is true. For example, I thought of a baby that was just born (just go with me here). That baby does not officially have name until it’s actually alive, but the idea of the baby exists before it is born.
I liked how Saussure says “the important thing in the word is not the sound alone but the phonic differences that make it possible to distinguish this word from all others, for differences carry significance”. I just thought he hit the nail on the head here. I had taken a class once before that had a entire section on phonic differences in words and I didn’t realize how important they were until I learned about them. They are actually vital to understanding words and their meanings when they are spoken out loud. This is especially important when learning a new language. You have to be able to to pick out the differences between each word in order to understand their meanings and a lot of the words could look the same. It is their sounds that make them different from each other and what truly makes the meaning itself.
