Although Ferdinand de Saussure is considered fundamental to the development of modern linguistics, one of his key concepts, the arbitrary nature of language, is widely debated. The purpose of this text is to consider the arbitrary nature of language and demonstrate the view proposed by Saussure that arbitrariness is indeed the first principle of the linguistic sign. Duan does this by defining arbitrariness, discussing its counterevidence and prerequisites, and examining the theory in the context of other concepts presented by Saussure. The article focuses on many of Saussure's ideas and how they link together to demonstrate that language is arbitrary, ultimately concluding that the concept of language and the linguistic sign being arbitrary is fundamental to linguistics, providing the foundation for other ideas Saussurean. The text provides a good overview of arbitrariness and the use of numerous examples helps the reader gain a greater understanding of the concepts discussed. This makes it an appropriate text to introduce readers to linguistic theories. However, the scope is quite narrow as the auth...