I found our most recent reading assignment “ Course in General Linguistics” very intense and somewhat confusing. Personally, not being used to the words and format of this article, it became hard to understand what the author is trying to convey. Though what did take from the article is that language itself is very intricate and complex. In the article, he makes a distinction between speaking and writing (though the distinction with writing isn’t so clear).
I quote “Language is a system of signs that express ideas and is therefore comparable to a system of writing, the alphabet of deaf-mutes, symbolic rites, political formulas, military signals etc”. Does this mean language is a system of signs that are not physical? Therefore it must be speech, correct? Though the author makes it independent from speech. Calling it the side of speaking in which you can study or the “social side of speech”. It exists not to the individual but confined to the interactions among a community.Â
What I retained from this article is, language is far more complex than just talking. It isn’t about the sounds you make or the sounds you apply to an object. It focuses on the ideas and images perceived used but auditory exchanges.
