Structural linguistics is an approach to
linguistics originating from the work of Swiss linguist
Ferdinand de Saussure and is part of the overall approach of
structuralism. De Saussure's
Course in General Linguistics, published posthumously in 1916, stressed examining language as a static system of interconnected units. He is thus known as a father of modern linguistics for bringing about the shift from
diachronic (historical) to
synchronic (non-historical) analysis, as well as for introducing several basic dimensions of
semiotic analysis that are still important today, such as
syntagmatic and
paradigmatic analysis (or 'associations' as Saussure was still calling them).