Roman Jakobson

“The twofold character of language is its capacity for combination and selection.”

“Every sign is composed of a signifier and a signified.”

“The poetic function projects the principle of equivalence from the axis of selection into the axis of combination.”

“Phonology is concerned with the function, behavior and organization of sounds as linguistic items.”

“Any linguistic sign involves two modes of arrangement: combination and selection.”

“Languages differ essentially in what they must convey and not in what they may convey.”

“The binary opposition is a fundamental operation of the human mind.”

“Aphasia is a loss of language, not a loss of speech.”

“We speak in order to be heard, in order to be understood.”

“Metaphor and metonymy are the two fundamental poles of language.”

“It's a pity that linguistics has been so reluctant to part with its 19th-century legacy.”

“The main subject of poetics is the differentia specifica of verbal art in relation to other arts.”

“Poetry is language in its aesthetic function.”

“The message is what is sent from the addresser to the addressee.”

“The function of language is not to inform but to evoke.”