Everyone, left to his own devices, forms an idea about what goes on in language which is very far from the truth.
Ferdinand de SaussureIn the lives of individuals and societies, language is a factor of greater importance than any other. For the study of language to remain solely the business of a handful of specialists would be a quite unacceptable state of affairs.
Ferdinand de SaussureHenceforth, language studies were no longer directed merely towards correcting grammar.
Ferdinand de Saussure