For or Against Saussure: Swiss Linguistics in WORD 1947
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Several articles on linguistic studies in European countries were published in the first three volumes of WORD (1945–1947): France (Benveniste, Dauzat and Massignon); Belgium (Leroy and Deroy); the Netherlands (Mohrmann); and Italy (Migliorini). Of these countries, only Switzerland has two articles on its linguistic studies in the same issue (Vol. 3, Nos. 1–2: 107–125). It was in this same issue that was published “De Saussure’s System of Linguistics” by Rulon Wells for the first time. This article is one of the first systematic and detailed interpretations of the Cours de linguistique générale (CLG). In this paper, we will present an analysis of Swiss linguistics in relation to Saussure, as revealed through the interplay of these three contributions published in WORD (Vol. 3, Issues 1–2). The controversial relationship between Saussure’s general linguistics and the linguistics of the Swiss and Geneva schools – after the publication of the CLG – was already evident in 1947.
Source: WORD
Authors: Giuseppe Cosenza, Claire A. Forel
Institutions: University of Calabria, University of Geneva
Language: English
Subfield: Language and Linguistics
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7202284882