UGC-NET-English

A. “An interlocking structure.” → TRUE
- Saussure argued that language is a relational, organized system where each element (like a word) only has meaning because of how it contrasts with others.
For example, "cat" means what it does because it is not "bat", "rat", etc.
- This idea is often summarized as:
Meaning emerges from how pieces of the system connect and oppose one another.

B. “A system of constant change.” → NOT CORRECT in this context
- Saussure separated two perspectives:
1. Synchronic linguistics: studying language as a frozen system at one moment.
2. Diachronic linguistics: studying how language changes through time.

C. “A system of signs.” → TRUE
- This is Saussure’s most famous formulation.
- He defined language as:
A system of signs in which the essential unit is formed by the signifier (sound-image) and the signified (concept).
- This idea became the basis of structural linguistics and later semiotics.

D. “A self-standing formation.” → NOT CORRECT
- Saussure emphasized that language is socially grounded:
It exists because a community agrees on usage.
It is not an isolated or autonomous organism.
-Meaning depends on convention, not independence.
- So he did not describe language as self-standing; rather, it is socially constructed and shared.