In the late 1950s and early 1960s, when structural linguistics were facing serious challenges from the likes of Noam Chomsky and thus fading in importance, an array of scholars in the humanities borrowed Saussure's concepts for use in their respective fields of study.
Pada akhir 1950-an dan awal 60-an, ketika linguistik struktural menghadapi tantangan serius dari orang-orang seperti Noam Chomsky dan dengan demikian memudar di pentingnya, array sarjana di humaniora meminjam konsep Saussure untuk digunakan dalam bidang masing-masing studi.