12.1\nsaussure believed that language is a system of signs.\nsounds count as language only when they serve to express or communicate ideas;otherwise they are nothing bur noise.\nto communicate ideas,they must be part of conventions,part of a system of signs.\nthe sign is the union of a form and an idea,which saussure called the signifier and signified.16 Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857—1913) was the first to notice the complexities of language. He believed that language is a system of signs. To communicate ideas, _____ must be part of a system of signs, called conventions. He held that the sign is the union of the _____ and the signified.[北京邮电大学2015研]