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-and-dumb, etc. Writing is likewise a vast system of signs. Any psychology of sign systems will be part of social psychology - that is to say, will be exclusively social; it will involve the same psychology as is applicable in the case of languages. The laws governing changes in these systems of signs will often be significantly similar to laws of linguistic change. This can easily be seen in the case of writing - although the signs are visual signs - which undergoes alterations comparable to phonetic phenomena. Having identified the language as a social product to be studied in linguistics, one must add that language in humanity as a whole is manifested in an infinite diversity of languages: a language is the product of a society, but different societies do not have the same language. Where does this diversity come from? Sometimes it is a relative diversity, sometimes an absolute diversity, but we have finally located the concrete object in this product that can be supposed to be lodged in the brain of each of us. But this product varies, depending On where you are in the world, what is given is not only the language but languages. And the linguist has no other choice than to study initially the diversity of languages. He must first study languages, as many languages as possible, and widen his horizons as far as he can. So this is how we shall proceed. From the study and observation of these languages, the linguist will be able to abstract general features, retaining everything that seems essential and universal, and setting aside what is particular and accidental. He will thus end up with a set of abstractions, which will be the language. That is what is summarised in the second section: the language. Under 'the language' I shall summarise what can be observed in the different languages. 3) However, there is still the individual to be examined, since it is clear that what creates general phenomena is the collaboration of all the individuals involved. Consequently we have to take a look at how language operates in the individual. This individual implementation of the social product is not a part of the object I have defined. This third chapter reveals, so to speak, what lies underneath - the individual mechanism, which cannot ultimately fail to have repercussions in one way or another on the general product, but which must not be confused, for purposes of study, with that general product, from which it is quite separate. [8 November 1910] Part One: Languages This heading contrasts with that of my second chapter: the language. There is no point in giving a more detailed specification and the meaning of these two contrasting headings is sufficiently self-evident. Just as, although comparisons with the natural sciences must not be abused, it would likewise be immediately evident what was meant in a work on natural history by contrasting 'the plant' with 'plants' (c.f. also .'insects, versus 'the insect'). These divisions would correspond reasonably well even in content to what we shall get in linguistics if we distinguish between 'the language' and 'languages'. Some botanists and naturalists devote their entire careers to one approach or the other. There are botanists who classify plants without concerning themselves with the circulation of the sap, etc., that is to say, without concerning themselves with 'the plant'. Considerations relevant to the language (and equally to some extent to languages as well) will lead us to conside