Roman Jakobson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Poetry is language in its aesthetic function.”

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

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

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

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