Résumé
The topic of language as a cognitive process of communication has been extensively discussed in linguistics, with regard to both the proper object of communication itself, and the reasons why people communicate. The present paper contributes to the debate on this topic with some theoretical considerations and some examples from various languages. The point of departure is an analysis of the Saussurian concept of combinaison, which is interpreted as referring to linguistic structural relationships and to the possibility that the speaker – rather than the language itself – organizes them. The focus is on the notions of “tensione” and “intenzione” of language. Moreover, the analysis of these notions is taken as the starting point to comment on some relevant linguistic issues: for instance, the genetic relationship between languages, their subdivision into different families, and the methodology on which such a subdivision is based; the phenomenon of linguistic change and the eventual death of a language; the cross-linguistic variety in terms of grammatical categories.