Evolution and Continuity of Linguistic Systems (original) (raw)

Language and Semiotic Studies

In the inspiring extract highlighted in this paper, Saussure observes how the relation between the elements of the sign change and evolve over time. In his Cours, he also details the elements of the linguistic sign and the principles governing them, defining language as a system of signs. Despite the natural resistance to changes in language in order to enable it to continually fulfill its function, that is, despite the necessary immutability of linguistic signs, they change over time, by being in constant contact with the communities of speakers, to whom language actually belongs. This may seem paradoxical because language is composed of arbitrary relations between signified and signifier that seek to represent concepts. Saussure refers to a principle of change in language linked to a principle of continuity. The present study focuses on the semiotic and communicational aspects of the development of linguistic systems in time, understood from a systemic perspective. It is sought to evince how signs perpetuate themselves and evolve through their constant interaction with real communities of language users. This approach can offer new insights about the continuity of linguistic systems as systems of signs that present immutable and mutable characters, and whose evolution can be understood based on open systems parameters, such as permanence, autonomy and sensitivity to flows of information, as studied by current theories and authors, showing that, to preserve its semiological life (CGL, 1959, p. 76), a living language must continuously reflect the purposes of its users.