The Study of Communication in the Context of Saussure’s Concept of “Concrete Entities”

Abstract

In modern studies of communication, the arguments concerning the state of the language system or the common use of each language unit often arise in order to support the hypotheses about various phenomena in the world, including the ways people communicate. The elements of langue and parole at stake here refer to the acts of communication, the individual components of communicative situations or to events that are in some way connected with them. Also, it sometimes occurs that it is the elements of langue and parole themselves that constitute the objects of research, however, this is not always clear, due to the fact that frequently the papers on this subject do not unequivocally indicate the object of analysis.

By referring to some examples from theoretical papers (mainly Bogusławski 1998 and Pawłowski 1978, 1986) and case studies (in particular Pisarek 2008 and Nowak 2012), in this work, I show that using the methods of language delimitation consistent with Saussure’s concept of concrete entities (see Saussure 2002: 125–126) enables the formulation of linguistic arguments in a manner corresponding to the highest standards of science (that is allowing their falsifiction).