Ferdinand de Saussure

About Ferdinand de Saussure

Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913) was a towering figure in 20th-century intellectual history, primarily as a linguist whose posthumously published *Course in General Linguistics* laid the foundation for modern structuralism and semiotics. His central contribution was establishing the concept of the linguistic sign as composed of the *signifier* (sound-image) and the *signified* (concept), and arguing for the arbitrary nature of this link. This framework moved linguistics from a historical-philological study to a systematic science focused on language as a self-contained social system, earning him an HPI Rank of #864.

In terms of contemporary online attention, Saussure experiences an Attention Gap of approximately 1x, meaning his 190K annualized Wikipedia views in 2025 are roughly in line with his historical importance. However, this general parity hides a comparative deficit when contrasted with figures of similar historical weight; for example, the more historically important Edward Victor Appleton (#586) garners a mere 14K views, while Octave Mirbeau (#522) receives only 27K. While his attention level is balanced, the negative 13.9% year-over-year view change and a Q1 vs Q3 momentum drop of -14% suggest that this foundational linguistic thinker is currently facing a slight, but measurable, decline in modern digital interest.