FOURNET, Arnaud.

Some comparative and historical considerations about Ferdinand de Saussure's distinction

between langue and langage. ReVEL, vol. 8, n. 14, 2010. [www.revel.inf.br/eng].

SOME COMPARATIVE AND HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS ABOUT

FERDINAND DE SAUSSURES DISTINCTION BETWEEN
LANGUE AND LANGAGE

Arnaud Fournet1

[email protected]

ABSTRACT: Modern French has two words: langue and langage when English has only one: language,
originally a loanword from Old French. The article investigates when and how French gradually used two words
to distinguish the concept of a particular language (langue) and that of speech ability (langage). This split started
around 1600 and was permanently established around 1800.

KEYWORDS: Language; Structuralism; de Saussure.

1. ABOUT THE ENGLISH WORD LANGUAGE

The present article originates in my personal realization that English only has one
word: language whereas French has two words: langue and langage to describe linguistic
activity, behavior, competence or faculty2, in spite of the quite obvious historical fact that the
English word is a loanword from (Old) French3. So I set about looking for the reasons why
the difference exists and what particular theoretical features it may entail. English somehow
misses a word and it is interesting to investigate the causes and some potential consequences
of that lexical want.
It is worth noting that, following the impulse of Old French, several modern Romance
languages display a similar difference between langue4 and langage5. The word langue is the
1

PhD from Universit Ren Descartes.

Depending on the theoretical preferences of authors.
3
The English word begins to be attested in the time bracket: 1250-1300. Middle English language < Old French
langa(i)ge < an unattested Gallo-Roman word *linguticum derived from Latin lingua tongue. The modern
English pronunciation with [gw] is most probably a graphic hypercorrection. This feature cannot be inherited
from Old French langa(i)ge. Cf. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/language.
4
Whence Italian lingua, Spanish lengua, Portuguese lngua, Old Provenal lenga and Romanian limba (with a
particular phonetic development).

ReVEL, vol. 8, n. 14, 2010 [www.revel.inf.br/eng]

direct continuation of Latin lingua tongue whereas langage is a derivative of Gallo-Roman

origin *linguticum6. The Spanish and Portuguese words lenguaje and linguagem7,
contrasting with lengua and lngua respectively, are usually ascribed to come from Old
Provenal leng(u)atge in a way or another. The Italian word linguaggio8 is also supposed to
be descended from Old Provenal9. A conspicuous peculiarity of modern western Romance
languages is that they have a distinction between langage defined as the ability (or faculty)
observed among all human beings to communicate by means of languages10 and langue
defined as any system of vocal signs dually articulated and specific to a given human
community11. English has only one word to express both meanings, as observed before and it
is interesting to determine whether this situation may become troublesome.

2. THE SITUATION IN LATIN

In Latin the word lingua was used to mean12:
- the anatomical organ: linguam exserere to thrust out the tongue, in token of derision or
contempt,
- the tongue or language of a people: qui ipsorum lingua Celtae, nostra Galli, appellantur
who are called Celts in their own language and Gauls in our own,
- a dialect, idiom, mode of speech: philosophorum lingua the language of philosophers,
- the voice, note, song, bark, etc. (of animals): linguae volucrum the songs of birds.
The notion of faculty or ability to speak was expressed with the word oratio13, which
also means a speech, utterance or a way of speaking, manner or style of speech, and also
5

It should nevertheless be noted that Romanian has limba for both words. The distinction is a western Romance
and (therefore) late innovation dating back to the Middle-Ages.
6
It can be noted that the Old French word langa(i)ge was either of feminine or masculine gender, a feature that
is reflected in Spanish lenguaje (masc.) and Portuguese linguagem (fem.). The feminine gender reflects the
neuter plural lingutica reinterpreted as a feminine singular as in often the case with neuter nouns in Romance.
7
Cf. for Spanish http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltConsulta?TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA= and for Portuguese
http://www.infopedia.pt/lingua-portuguesa/linguagem .
8
http://www.etimo.it/?term=linguaggio according to the etymological dictionary of Ottorino Pianigiani (1907).
9
A southern French dialect which used to have a powerful cultural influence in the early Middle-Ages, before
Parisian French gradually gained precedence. About a hundred modern French words can be traced back to Old
Provenal.
10
Mounin (1995:196): Langage: L'aptitude observe chez tous les hommes communiquer au moyen des
langues.
11
Mounin (1995:196): Langue: Tout systme de signes vocaux doublement articuls, propre une communaut
humaine donne.
12
Cf. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu from which the examples are taken.

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the language of any people or nation. It can be added that sermo discussion, conversation
may also mean language14. The Latin word lingua had several derivatives, some of which
are attested in Old French:
- linguatus having a tongue, eloquent,
- linguax loquacious, talkative,
- lingulaca gossip,
- lingulatus tongue-shaped,
- lingulus, linguosus talkative. Cf. Old French lango(u)s.

3. THE SITUATION IN OLD FRENCH

In Old French, the word langue, in spite of its direct cognacy with Latin lingua, very
seldom15 describes the tongue in the linguistic meaning:
- used anatomically: Renart li a la langue trait Bien demi pies fors de la gueule (Verse
1206) Renart has drawn his tongue out of his mouth about half a foot long,
- a nation or country: la langue tyoise16 the German people (attested in 1336). This sense
is still preserved in the so-called langues of the Knights of Malta, where langue is to be
understood as a province or country. This surprising meaning is not far from being a
faux-ami between Old French and Modern French. The word langue is sometimes
written lange: Aprs envoiera messages par les terres, par les langes Afterward he will
send messages in all countries and nations.
Toward Middle French, the modern meaning is increasingly frequent:
- Le latin estoit la langue premire de l'Italien. Latin used to be the language first spoken
by Italian people. (XVIth century)
In the meaning of a particular language, the word langage is standard in Old French:
13

Cf. http://www.perseus.tufts.edu: Speech, the power or faculty of speech, the habit or use of language.
Under the influence of Christianism, both sermo and oratio have acquired specialized meanings in relationship
with mass and Catholic religious practices.
15
Cf. Greimas (1994:333): langage parl ou crit (rare en anc. fr.). The ATLFi nevertheless indicates that this
meaning is attested as early as the end of the Xth century. Cf. http://atilf.atilf.fr/.
16
A peculiar rendition of German deutsch.
14

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- a language specific to a people or country: Mis languages est bons, car en France fui nez
My language is good, for in France was born. The word can be of feminine gender: il
les welcume [sic] en sa [sic] langage He welcomes them in their language17.
- words: Et leur disoit ces langages en riant And was telling them these words laughing,
- a means to communicate: langage (d'oisiaus) language of birds.
The words langue and langage had a significant number of derivatives:
- langag(i)er to say: Ensi et autres semblables paroles langagoient li Engls Thus and
other similar words were the English saying,
- langageur braggart: yvrongne et grant langageur drunkard and great braggart,
- langart talkative: fort langart et accoustum de parler much talkative and used to
speaking (a lot),
- lango(u)s talkative: La rainne qui est tant lengouse contre le buef fut enviouse The frog
which is so much talkative got jealous of the ox,
- langueter to talk, il fust bon avocat en court, car il scet trop bien langueter He was a
good lawyer at court for he knows too well how to speak,
- langoyer, langayer to examine pigs' tongues to know if they are sick.
Sometimes the word latin was used as a synonym of langage, even when refering to
animals:
Ce fu el tems qu'arbres florissent, [Then came the time when trees blossom]
Foillent boscages et prs verdissent, [bushes get leaves and pastures are green]
Que cist oisel en lor latin, [when the birds in their language (Latin!)]
Dolcement chantent al matin. [softly sing in the morning.]

Rather unsurprising, the lexical situation of Old French is that inherited by the English
language from the Anglo-Normans. This means that the split between langue and langage
happened later on. This is what we are now going to determine in the next paragraphs.

17

It is hard to figure out whether there is not some additional irony in the use of the feminine gender in that
sentence, as foreigners are well-known to have difficulties with grammatical genders.

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4. THE SITUATION IN MIDDLE FRENCH

The semantic shift between the two words langue and langage is eloquently and
remarkably exemplified by the title itself of the Dictionnaire historique de l'ancien langage
franois ou glossaire de la langue franoise by Jean-Baptiste de la Curne de Sainte-Palaye in
1882: Historical dictionary of the ancient French langage [sic] or glossary of the French
langue [sic], which indicates that the word langage is clearly old-fashioned and that the
regular word has become langue. During the XVth century it is commonplace to encounter
langaige allemant German language or langaige tuscan Italian language. But afterwards
during the XVIth century langa(i)ge is gradually replaced by langue. Nicot (1606) mentions
in his Thresor de la langue franoyse the phrase langue maternelle mother tongue but there
is no **langage maternel. Later on, Lacombe (1765) glosses langa(i)ge with langue but the
reverse is not true. The first edition of the Dictionnaire de l'Acadmie published in 1694
indicates that both langue and langage mean idiome dont se sert une nation, but the sheer
number of examples shows that that langage is already losing ground when compared to
langue. Jean-Franois Fraud in 1788 explains in his Dictionaire [sic]18 critique de la langue
franaise:
Quand on veut marquer seulement la manire de s'exprimer d'un pays, on se sert de
langue plutt que de langage. La langue maternelle, la langue franaise, anglaise,
etc. et non pas le langage maternel, le langage franais, etc. Ainsi l'on dit, bien parler
sa langue, et non pas bien parler son langage.19

Parallel to the development of langue as the idiom of the particular nation, the word
langage tends to refer either to a (unusual) way of expressing one's thoughts or feelings or to
the general ability of mankind to do so, as under the pen of Beauze (1767, t1 XVI-XVII):
J'ai trouv partout les mmes principes gnraux, la mme universalit dans les lois
communes du Langage [...] en consquence, tous les peuples de la terre, malgr la
diversit des idiomes, parlent absolument tous le mme Langage, sans anomalie et
sans exception.20

18

With only one -n- at dictionnaire...

When one wants to talk about the way a country speaks one resorts to langue rather than langage. The mother
langue, the French langue, the English langue, etc. not the mother langage, the French langage, etc. And one
says: to speak well one's langue and not to speak well one's langage.
20
I found everywhere the same general principles, the same universality in the common laws of (the) Langage
[...] and consequently, all the people of the earth, in spite of the diversity of idioms, speak absolutely the same
Langage, without defect nor exception. It can be noted than this sentence can hardly receive a straightforward
translation into English precisely because English has only one word.

19

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The gradual displacement of langage by langue thus started around 1600 and was
definitely carried out before 1800. This is the situation that has been existing in French for
more than two centuries down to the present.

5. TRANSLATING FERDINAND DE SAUSSURE INTO ENGLISH

Being a native speaker of French (from Geneva in Switzerland), Ferdinand de

Saussure inherited the cultural distinction between langue and langage.
Il faut se placer de prime abord sur le terrain de la langue et la prendre pour
norme de toutes les autres manifestations du langage. En effet parmi tant de
dualits, la langue seule parat tre susceptible d'une dfinition autonome et fournit
un point d'appui satisfaisant pour l'esprit.
Mais qu'est-ce que la langue ? Pour nous elle ne se confond pas avec le langage ;
elle n'en est qu'une partie dtermine, essentielle, il est vrai. C'est la fois un produit
social de la facult du langage et un ensemble de conventions ncessaires, adoptes
par le corps social pour permettre l'exercice de cette facult chez les individus. [...]
La langue, au contraire, est un tout en soi et un principe de classification. Ds que
nous lui donnons la premire place parmi les faits de langage, nous introduisons un
ordre naturel dans un ensemble qui ne se prte aucune autre classification. 21

This excerpt from Saussure states the clear difference that he makes between langue
and langage. In his Translator's Introduction (1986: XIII-XIV), the translator of Saussure's
CLG seems to downplay the issue of rendering the meaning and the difference in English:
Surprisingly few have seen that it is not at all necessary to make heavy weather of
the distinction between langue and langage provided one respects the important
semantic difference in English between language with and without an article.

And in the following pages (1986: XV-XVI):

Some of the central problems of interpretation of the Cours de linguistique
gnrale hinge upon the fact that the word langue seems to be used in a variety of
ways. [...] How to translate langue is consequently a question which cannot be kept
separate from one's analysis of the theorising underlying the Cours as published.
[...]
An attempt has been made to indicate the full range of implications associated with
the term langue by using different renderings in different contexts. While the
language or a language are often perfectly adequate [sic] English translations, there
are also many instances where expressions such as linguistic structure or linguistic
system bring out much more clearly in English the particular point that is being
made.

21

(CLG: 25).

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The short excerpt above, where langue and langage appear simultaneously and which
is luminous to a French speaker, has been translated into English as follows:
The linguist must take the study of linguistic structure [sic] as his primary concern,
and relate all other manifestations of language to it. Indeed, amid so many dualities,
linguistic structure [sic] seems to be the one thing that is independently definable
and provides something that our minds can satisfactorily grasp.
What, then, is linguistic structure [sic]? It is not, in our opinion, the same thing as
language. Linguistic structure is only one part of language, even though it is an
essential part. The structure of a language [sic] is a social product of our language
faculty. At the same time, it is also a body of conventions adopted by society to
enable members of society to use their language faculty. [...]
A language as a structured system [sic], on the contrary, is both a self contained
whole and a principle of classification. As soon as we give linguistic structure pride
of place among the facts of language, we introduce a natural order into an aggregate
which lends itself to no other classification. 22

In my humble opinion, it is quite clear that this tentative translation fails by a large
margin to convey the original meaning. The replacement of the concept of langue by that of
linguistic structure is extremely reductive and nearly a betrayal of Saussure's thinking and
wording. As explained in the introduction of the English version of Saussure (2006: XX):
Langue is both a mental and a social reality, made up of elements which are values defined
by difference, or by being in opposition with other units. Moreover, it can be noted that
Saussure never used the word structure: Saussure himself used the term system, not
structure, in both linguistics and semiology, as aptly noted in Saussure (2006:XXVIII). A
feature of Saussure's thinking about langue is indeed its polymorphic nature: social
institution, sociolinguistic norm, particular instanciation of the faculty of language,
underlying potentiality which gets actualized in speech, historical product which gets
constantly rearranged synchronically. To translate langue as linguistic structure is a kind of
hyper-structuralist interpretation of the word which is alien to Saussure's approach. In fact,
when complaining that: Some of the central problems of interpretation of the Cours de
linguistique gnrale hinge upon the fact that the word langue seems to be used in a variety of
ways, the translator is indeed stating the obvious: there is a lexical hole in English. But this
does not seem to lead to the realization that the translation is going to be defective and to
dismantle the polymorphic unity that is conveyed by one word: langue.

22

Cf. Saussure (1965: 25).

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5. CONCLUSION
One is left to wonder whether Saussure's thought can be translated in English at all23.
It is quite fascinating (not to say laughable) that Chomsky once considered Saussure naive24
when the language of the former does not even permit to translate the latter properly and
adequately. Anyway, as observed in Saussure (2006:XXVIII):
Saussure continues to be considered as one of the founding fathers of modern
linguistics. Above all, the Cours de linguistique gnrale is one of the canonical
texts of twentieth century thought, having become one of the key works for a
movement that became known as structuralism. [...] A generation of thinkers in a
range of disciplines recognize their heavy debt to the Cours: Lvi-Strauss for anthropology, Barthes for literary criticism and cultural analysis, Althusser for marxist
political thought, Lacan for psychoanalysis, to name but a few. [...] Due to Saussure,
linguistics became for many thinkers the science-pilote, the model for all semiological systems within the humanities and social sciences.

Time will tell what is left of Chomskyan linguistics in one century. We already know
that the influence of Saussure on linguistics and beyond has managed to be deep and lasting.

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ABSTRACT: Modern French has two words: langue and langage when English has only one: language,
originally a loanword from Old French. The article investigates when and how French gradually used two words
to distinguish the concept of a particular language (langue) and that of speech ability (langage). This split started
around 1600 and was permanently established around 1800.

KEYWORDS: Language; Structuralism; de Saussure.

RESUMO: o francs moderno tem duas palavras: langue e langage quando o ingls tem apenas uma:
linguagem, originalmente um emprstimo do francs arcaico. O artigo investiga como e quando o
francs gradualmente utilizou duas palavras para distinguir o conceito de uma determinada lngua
(langue) e que a capacidade de fala (langage). Essa diviso comeou por volta de 1600 e foi
definitivamente estabelecida em torno de 1800.
PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Lngua; Estruturalismo; Saussure.

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11

Article received on November 28th, 2009.

Article approved for publication on February 13th, 2010.

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12