1857-
1913,
Swiss linguist. One of the founders of modern
linguistics, he established the
structural study of language, emphasizing the
arbitrary relationship of the linguistic sign (
signifier) to that which it signifies(
signified). Saussure distinguished
synchronic linguistics (studying language at a given moment) from
diachronic linguistics (studying the changing state of a language over time); he further opposed what he named
langue (the state of a language at a certain time) to
parole (the speech of an individual). Saussure's most influential work is the
Course in General Linguistics (1916), a compilation of notes on his lectures.
ok, this is almost all from encyclopedia.com, it's true.