Signifier

A Signifier is a Semiotic Term that represents a concept that is significant.

• Example(s):
  • a Reference.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Sign,
  • Symbol,
  • Sense.
• See: Signified, Syntagmatic Relation, Denotation, Connotation, Ferdinand de Saussure, Semiotics, Oxford Dictionaries Online, Oxforddictionaries.com.

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References

2019a

• (Wikipedia, 2019) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signified_and_signifier Retrieved:2019-12-17.
  • The terms signified and signifier are most commonly related to semiotics, which is defined by Oxford Dictionaries Online as "the study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation". Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure, one of the two founders of semiotics, introduced these terms as the two main planes of a sign. The first pertains to the "plane of content" while the latter is the "plane of expression".

2019b

• (Streeter, 2019) ⇒ Thomas Streeter (2019). Semiotic Terminology: https://www.uvm.edu/~tstreete/semiotics_and_ads/terminology.html Retrieved:2019-12-17.
  • QUOTE: Semiotics, or semiology, is the study of signs, symbols, and signification. It is the study of how meaning is created, not what it is. Below are some brief definitions of semiotic terms, beginning with the smallest unit of meaning and proceeding towards the larger and more complex:
    • Signifier: any material thing that signifies, e.g., words on a page, a facial expression, an image.
    • Signified: the concept that a signifier refers to.

1916

• (Saussure, 1916) ⇒ Ferdinand de Saussure. (1916). “Cours de Linguistique Générale." (Course in General Linguistics)

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