Practice question · Multiple choice
Why does Saussure insist a speaker uses the system without knowing its history?
Hints
- The distinction is synchrony against diachrony.
- A speaker who knows no etymology still uses the word correctly.
Show the answer
C. Because the value of a word comes from its current contrasts, not from where it came from
Why
Because meaning is synchronic: it is fixed by the contrasts available now. A speaker who has never heard of Latin still uses the word correctly, which shows the history is not part of the competence. Diachronic study is legitimate and answers a different question, how the system got to be as it is.
Practise The Sign, the Code and the Six Functions
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