Language, Saussure and Wittgenstein

Saussure as a linguist and Wittgenstein as a philosopher of language are arguably the two most important figures in the development of twentieth-century linguistic thought. This book points out what their ideas have in common, in spite of emanating from different intellectual sources, this study breaks new ground. It also raises challenging questions about the radical break which the work of Saussure and Wittgenstein provoked with traditional assumptions about the role of language in human affairs. It is a book which will be of interest to linguists, philosophers, historians, social anthropologists and students of literature.