Benveniste, Émile

(1902-1976)

   linguist

   Born in Aleppo, Émile Benveniste is known for his influential theories and writings in comparative Indo-European grammar (Essai de grammaire sogdi-ane, 1929; Les Infinitifs avestiques, 1935). He proposed a theory of language roots ("consonant-vowel-consonant"—from which full sounds develop). In lexicography, he developed a structuralist viewpoint (Noms d'agent et Noms d'action en indo-européen, 1948; Vocabulaire des institutions, a series of lectures at the Collège de France). Ben-veniste's principal theoretical works were collected together in Problèmes de linguistiques générales (1966; 1974), writings in which he studied in particular the problems of case, verbal pronouns, verb tense, and the relationship between function (or semantics) and forms. Benveniste debated the theory of the arbitrariness of signs and enriched syntax of the possibilities of the relationships between the speaker and his or her discourse. Finally, Benveniste put forth important theoretical hypotheses in semiology. He was named to the Académie d'inscription et belles lettres in 1960.