Ricerc@Sapienza

This paper aims to propose some considerations about the European Saussurean tradition focusing on the relation between man and language. It will be argued that, against the current interpretation of Saussure as a promoter of the linguistique de la langue, his notes on the speaker’s judgement about the language and on metalanguage, show a very complex thought. This fact finds important developments in Karl Bühler’s and Émile Benveniste’s theories and in their connections with Hendrik J. Pos’ and Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology.