Saussure and Chomsky. Langue and I-language

Abstract

Ferdinand de Saussure and Noam Chomsky are considered to be the most influential linguists. In this paper, we contrast their accounts concerning the following issues of language and try to make clear differences between them, mainly referring to Saussure’s langue and Chomsky’s I-language: 1) How concepts emerge, 2) How phonemes appear, 3) How languages change, 4) Where syntax belongs to, 5) Whether language is social or biological, 6) What parts of speech are, and 7) Whether languages are delimited or not. By doing so, it will be understood that in what ways the two linguists have common or different ideas about language.