Ferdinand de Saussure's Cours de linguistique generale was posthumously composed by his students from the notes they had made at his lectures. The book became one of the most influential works of the twentieth century, giving direction to modern linguistics and inspiration to literary and cultural theory. Before he died Saussure told friends he was writing up the lectures himself but no evidence of this was found. Eighty years later in 1996 a manuscript in Saussure's hand was discovered in the orangerie of his family house in Geneva. This proved to be the missing original of the great work....

Ferdinand de Saussure is commonly regarded as one of the fathers of 20th century linguistics. His lectures ushered in the structuralist mode which marked a key turning point in modern thought. Published 100 years after Saussure's death, this new edition of Roy Harris's authoritative translation includes a substantial new introduction exploring Saussure's contemporary influence and importance.