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.