This book owes its . existence to the encouragement and help of many others. In the first place I mention Prof. Dr. A. ]. B. N. Reichling, who was my supervisor at Amsterdam University and who from the beginning helped me on, through his most stimulating teaching and above all through his encouragement, his friendly advice and his sincere interest. The readiness with which he was always prepared to spend hours and hours of his valuable time on the discussion of the many problems with which the study of Glossematics confronts one, has often inspired me with wonder and deep gratitude. It is hardly possible to do justice in a preface to a supervisor to whom one owes so much, and from whose keen insight one has learned so much. One can only feel profoundly thankful for having been brought up in the linguistic atmosphere which Prof. Reichling creates about him, an atmosphere characterized by a persistent desire for an empirical approach to the facts of language, which desire he knows how to instill into his pupils. It is with some hesitation that I proceed to thanking the Danish scholars to whom I owe so much. The hesitation is due to an awareness that probably this work bears no proportion to all the trouble they took in my behalf. Above all I am extremely grateful to Prof. Dr.

I. Glossematics and de saussure.- "Negative entities" 1 - De Saussure's term "phonème" 2 - The express train: manipulations with a time-table 4 - The game of chess: the notion of "valeur" 5 - Form and substance 7 - Requirement for the substance 8 - Sound the substance of expression for language 9 - The social side of language 11.- II. History of glossematics. Its name and its object.- 1. History of glossematics.- 2. Name and object of glossematics.- Phonematics and glossematics 15 - Plerematics and cenematics 16 - Functions 18 - Text 18 - The linguistic algebra 20 - "Form" 20 - "Finding" 22 - Omkring Sprogteoriens Grundlaeggelse 25 - The glossematic "school" 27 - Object of the present study 28.- I - The autonomy of language. Process and system. Linguistic theory and empiricism.- 1. The autonomy of language.- In OSG 30 - In Principes 31 - In Sprog og Tanke 32 - Conclusion.- 2. Process and system.- A system behind every process 33 - System-finding or system-making ? 34 - First requirement: a knowledge of the language to be analyzed 35 - Conclusion 36.- 3. Linguistic theory and empiricism.- The empirical principle 37 - Hjelmslev's conception of empiricism 38 - Conclusion 39.- II - Induction and deduction.- In OSG 40 - In Principles 41 - In Synopsis 42 - In Cas 43 - In Structure Morphologique 45 - In OSG Ch. 9 46 - Latest usage 47 - Different analyses 48 - Conclusion 50 - The aim of linguistics and the aim of glossematics 51.- III - The theory of language: A calculation arbitrary, appropriate and as simple as possible.- 1. Language.- 2. Theory.- 3. Calculus - Calculation.- 4. Glossematic theory arbitrary, appropriate, and as simple as possible.- Appropriate 59 - Arbitrary 59 - Arbitrary and appropriate 60 - Questions 61 - Simplicity 63.- IV - The principle of analysis.- 1. The system of definitions.- 2. The principle: an a priori.- 3. The premisses.- 4. Basis of division.- 5. All-importance of the dependences.- 6. The nature of the dependences.- Scheme of relations 73 - Other relations 75 - The problem of frequency 76 - Examples 78.- 7. The uniformity of the dependences.- 8. Conjunction - disjunction.- 9. Inventories.- Rule of transference 81 - Decreasing size of the inventories 81.- 10. Some terminology.- Relation 82 - Solidarity 82 - Determination 82 - Combination 83 - Exist 84 - Presence 84 - Realized-virtual 85.- V - Function, form, and their frame of reference.- 1. Function.- 2. Form.- 3. The syllable.- History of the terminology 98 - "Accent" 99 - "Pseudo-syllables" 101 - Central and marginal pre-phonemes 102 - Phonetic qualities of the syllable 103 - Decreasing inventories 104 - "Place" 105.- VI - The functives and their substance of expression.- 1. The functives and substance.- Dependences = "linking lines" 106 - Manifestation and 'recognition of linguistic form 108 - "Functional" teaching 109 - Diachronic linguistics 109 - Identification 110 - Commutation 110.- 2. Sound on a level with writing?.- 3. Two objections supported.- The naturalness of the sound-substance 113 - A different substance means a different form 116 - Different expression-forms of one language 117 -"Ideophonic" language? 118 - Spelling 119.- 4. Oppositions.- "Suppression" 120 - Correlations 121 - Correlations in writing 122 - The substance affects the suppressions 123.- VII - The linguistic sign: The sign in itself.- 1. The sign.- Its definition 126 - Substance presupposed 127 - The definition of "form" 128.- 2. Meaning.- Context 130 - Naming and symbolizing 131 - The word the unit of meaning 132 - The analysis into signs abandoned? 134 - Treatment of the word 135.- 3. Figurae.- Language as a system of figurae 136 - Language as a sign system 137.- 4. Schema and usage.- Terminology 138 - Usage = substance 138 - Language system and schema 142 - Untranslated passage 142.- VIII - The linguistic sign: The sign and purport.- 1. Purport: de Saussure's division of the "masse amorphe".- Amorphous mass? 145 - Hjelmslev's examples 145 - The scheme amended 147.- 2. Purport: Hjelmslev's division of the "masse amorphe".- Hjelmslev's definition of "purport" 148 - The content purport 149 - Boundaries 149.- 3. The difference between "Purport", "Content", and "Substance".- 4. Expression and content: the straight lines.- Content figurae ? 154 - How to find "content figurae" 156 - Decreasing inventories 157 - Objection: difference in structure between word content and word expression 158 - Content chain or content element? 159 - Inexhaustiveness of the partition 159 - Hjelmslev's examples 160 - Scheme 161.- 5. The inversion of the sign-orientation.- Content = thoughts and things 162 - Symmetry between the two planes 162 - Starting the analysis from the content 163.- IX - The commutation test.- 1. The definition of commutation.- 2. The extension of commutation.- 3. Second extension: the exchange of units starting from the content.- 4. Paradigms.- 5. Identification of phonemes - its place in the analysis.- 6. "Place" of the commutation test.- 7. Permutation. Definition of the word.- 8. Categories.- X - Syncretism and catalysis.- 1. Syncretism.- Syncretism and neutralization 180 - Syncretism in the expression 181 - The point of view of the substance-hierarchy 182 - Neutralization and opposition 182 - Why neutralization ? 184 - Grammatical prerequisites 185 - Syncretism in the content 186 - Overlapping with zero.- 2. Catalysis.- Catalysis and interpolation 191 - Reason for catalysis 193 - Catalysis a circle 193 - Examples 194 - Importance of "meaning" for formal analysis 196.- XI - Ultimate results of the deduction.- 1. The reduction of the phoneme.- Taxemes and glossemes 199 - Content glossemes (Cas) 200 - Expression glossemes 202 - The principles of economy, reduction and generalization 204 - Application to Danish 205 - Affinity of cenemes with the substance 206.- 2. The completely analogous categorical structure of the two planes.- Scheme 208 - Explanation of the terms used 209.- XII - Language amidst connotative semiotics, meta-semiotics, semiotics, symbolic systems and non-language.- 1. Connotative semiotics and meta-semiotics.- Connotative semiotic 212 - Meta-semiotic 213 - Semiology 214 - Jump to the substance 214 - The key position of language 215.- 2. Language and non-language.- Two planes - two forms 216 - Semiotic and symbolic system 217 - Definitions of natural language 217 - Translatability 218 - The unlimited possibility of forming signs 220 - Profusion of figurae 221 - Dispensable and indispensable profusion 222 - The very free rules for forming units of great extension 223 - The rules independent of any scale of values 223 - Language independent of any purpose ? 223 - The de…