Saussure's View of Language as a System of Arbitrary Signs

Abstract

Saussure's view that signs stand for their referents in an arbitrary fashion reflects a view of semiosis that separates sensory-bodily processes from cognitive ones. It remains Saussure's most controversial assertion within semiotics, even though it is a perspective that is found as an axiom in various cognitive sciences. This paper revisits Saussurean arbitrariness theory, showing how it breaks down in various ways when considering concrete semiotics phenomena. Nevertheless, as a model of semiosis, it has provided a basis on which to discuss and research semiosis in real-world terms.