O conceito de língua em/de benveniste

In this article, we reflect on the concept of language in / of (general) linguistic analysis by Émile Benveniste, in order to show that position adopted by this linguist leads him to formulate a concept of language distinct from the Saussurian concept. Claudine Normand (2009) believed that he cared about the lack of foundation of the linguistic sign. From our perspective, Benveniste's discomfort lies in the fact that, for him, language is not just an algebra of pure values. If language is the social part of language, there is in it social and historical values ​​involved, produced by the condition of speech. Benveniste's discomfort, therefore, refers to the lack of history that makes the relationship between signifier and signified, in constitution of the linguistic sign, a necessary condition for its existence as a unit of language. History, in that sense, is the constituent that puts a brake on contingency, since the pure contingency is not able to produce the imaginary effect of Communication. To that extent, Benveniste claims for his language constitution in / by history.