This paper opens by considering two well established points in Saussurian studies : the importance of diachrony in Saussure’s thinking and the conceptual coherence of his work, from the Mémoire to his later writings and the CLG. The author then proceeds to situate Saussure’s contributions whithin the epistemological context of his era and suggests that any sense of discontinuity that one might perceive between Saussure and his prodecessors results from misunderstanding among French structuralists and German scholars. Indeed, comparisons of Saussure’s work with canonical works in the neogrammarian tradition shows that Saussure and the Leipzig School shared a great deal, including the role of synchrony, the importance afforded to the speaking subject, the differential function of linguistic units and, especially, a non substantialist conception of language. The author’s thesis is that the neogrammarian movement is characterized by the meeting of two theoretical perspectives – comparative grammar and Herbartian psychology – each sharing a common formal and empiricist outlook. This resulted in a specific conception of how element and system relate, one that eschews both holism and atomism alike. The relation of Saussure to this immediate predecessors brings back the hackneyed topic of his alleged originality and of the Course’s peculiar destiny. Some suggestions for future research are made thereupon in the conclusion.