ABSTRACT
Inforegoingchapters,wehavebeendealingwithapproachesthatcanbe presented,parexcellence,bysinglingouttheideasofoneor(atmost)two principalexponents.Thismethodofpresentationwillnotserveour purposeinthepresentchapter.Instead,weshallneedtodiscussa movement,andtodiscussitbyformingacompositepicturemadeupof theideasofanumberofimportantcontributors.Evenwhentheyare attributabletoparticularsources,or,forthatmatter,whentheyconstituteareasofdisagreementwithinthemovementasawhole,theseideas clusterroundafairlywell-definednucleus.Themainexponentsofthe functionalistmovement-those,atleast,inwhosewritingsthethesesof functionalsemiologyshouldbesought-areEricBuyssens,Andre Martinet,JeanneMartinet,GeorgesMouninandLuisPrieto.From amongthesescholars,AndreMartinetisundoubtedlythecentripetal forceofthemovement,whileEricBuyssensremains,forallhisconsiderableinfluenceonfunctionalistsemiology,thefurthestremovedfromthe actualorbitofthemovement.
