Saussure, Ferdinand de Syllabification: (Saus·sure, Ferdinand de)Pronunciation: /sōˈso͝or, -ˈsYr/Definition of Saussure, Ferdinand de (1857–1913), Swiss linguistics scholar. He was one of the founders of modern linguistics, and his work was fundamental to the development of structuralism. Saussure, Ferdinand de in other Oxford dictionaries Definition of Saussure, Ferdinand de in the British & World English dictionary