polemic with Noam Chomsky. He wrote over twenty books on topics ranging from historical linguistics (Économie des changements phonétiques, 1955) to general linguistic theory. His most widely known work, Elements of General Linguistics (1960) has been translated into 17 languages and has influenced a generation of students, both in France and abroad.

Other works include General Syntax (1985), The Function and Dynamics of Language (1989),