This article tests the relevance of Guillaume’s model : radical binary tensor ( « tenseur binaire radical ») in the special field of Saussurean typology of signs. An initial operation of discernment ( « discernement ») generates the structural sign through three phases : onymics ( « onymique »), 1898 ; so called phonetic « laws » ; mimicry ( « mimologie », resemblance between the two faces of the symbol). A first kind of diachrony, as a move to limit ( « marche à l’étroit ») is generated.The structural sign eventually fits into a move to widen ( « marche au large ») through linearity of speech and consecutiveness (or « rhapsody ») of legend. Such a « progress to wide » finally reverses itself as a disarticulation between significant ( « signifiant ») and signification ( « signifié ») : « kénôme », « tourbillons » (whirlwind), void.
Such a dramaturgy does not coincide with the diachronic production of concepts : it converts the latter into a logical chronology ( « chronologie de raison ») according to which there is, strictly speaking, no evolution within Saussure’s thought.