{"product_id":"saussure-david-holdcroft-9780521326186","title":"Saussure: Signs, System and Arbitrariness","description":"The Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) has exerted a profound influence not only on twentieth century linguistics but on a whole range of disciplines within the humanities and social sciences. His central thesis was that the primary object in studying a language is the state of that language at a particular time--a so-called synchronic study. He went on to claim that a language state is a socially constituted system of signs that are quite arbitrary and that can only be defined in terms of their relationship within the system. This new perspective has changed the way people think about linguistics and has led to important attempts to apply structuralist ideas in anthropology, literary criticism, and philosophy. Professor Holdcroft's book expounds and elaborates Saussure's central ideas. It also offers a critical assessment of them, arguing that many of Saussure's claims are either questionable or have been misunderstood. The book will be read with profit by nonspecialists and could be used as a textbook by students of linguistics, philosophy of language, literary criticism and anthropology.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e David Holdcroft\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0521326184\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780521326186\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Cambridge University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/26\/1991\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 196\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.88lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.56d","brand":"David Holdcroft","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44056261624063,"sku":"9780521326186","price":125.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_f2cfe5e2-f1bb-4af3-86e8-0b8d975c1f4c.jpg?v=1685040386","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/saussure-david-holdcroft-9780521326186","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}