Abstract：After the immediate publication of Course in General Linguistics, numerous linguists were attracted to dispute Saussure's theories, among which the arbitrary principle of linguistic sign was the hottest one. Currently, there are abundant documents criticizing Saussure's arbitrariness from diverse perspectives. This thesis, based on the former researches, tries to sort out the correlations between the following concepts: arbitrariness and nomenclature, arbitrariness and motivation. The result shows that not all of the linguistic signs are arbitrary in nature, proper nouns, personal pronouns, onomatopoetic words and exclamatory words should be removed. Arbitrariness and motivation are two different concepts. Arbitrariness was used to denote the relation existing between the signifier and the signified. However, Motivation means why and how those signs are produced. Admitting arbitrariness of linguistic sign does not mean the denial of their motivations.

Keyword：Course in General Linguistics;arbitrariness;nomenclature;motivation;