LANGUAGE, LANGUE, AND PAROLE: SAUSSUREAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE SYSTEMATIZATION OF LINGUISTICS AND TO OTHER SCIENTIFIC STUDIES

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on the epistemological foundations of Linguistics as a science, specifically focusing on Saussurean contributions regarding the concepts of langage (human faculty of language), langue (language system/tongue), and parole (speech), as well as the nature of linguistic signs. Through a qualitative literature review, we sought to understand how scientific paradigms and historical contexts influenced the establishment of Linguistics as an autonomous field and the definition of its objects of study. The text is organized into three main sections: (1) Historical Linguistics: from Comparativism to Structuralism, providing a historical contextualization; (2) Langage, Langue, and Parole: An Exploration of Saussurean Concepts, revisiting Saussure’s thought regarding his dichotomies (langue vs. parole, signified vs. signifier); and (3) a discussion on the place of Linguistics within the Human Sciences and its theoretical implications. The study draws primarily on the work of Saussure (2006), Kuhn (1998), Fiorin (2010), and Ilari (2012), whose contributions enabled a critical, historical reading of the field's theoretical and methodological transformations. The findings indicate that Linguistics, despite originating within the framework of the exact sciences, shifted toward a different approach, thereby expanding its objects of study and methodologies. We conclude that debates concerning langue and parole remain central to understanding the trajectory of Linguistics a century after Saussure’s proposals in the Course in General Linguistics.