Editing Course in General Linguistics (section)

==The task of linguistics==
Following a brief introduction to the history of linguistics, Saussure sets the tasks of linguistics. He largely equates general linguistics with historical-comparative and [[Linguistic reconstruction|reconstructive linguistics]] arguing that "the scope of linguistics should be

:a) to describe and trace the history of all observable languages, which amounts to tracing the history of families of languages and reconstructing as far as possible the mother language of each family;
:b) to determine the forces that are permanently and universally at work in all languages, and to deduce the general laws to which all specific historical phenomena can be reduced; and
:c) to delimit and define itself."
In later parts of the book, Saussure demonstrates the limitations of the reconstructive method owing to insufficient historical data and to the unpredictability of [[language change]]. He concludes that, in order to understand why a language at a certain historical stage has the forms it has, one must also uncover the universals, which are present throughout the development of all languages. Saussure's suggestion is that the dynamic interaction of meaning and expression governs language change.