Signifier and Signified. Explanations > Critical Theory > Concepts > Signifier and Signified Description | Discussion | See also Description Saussure's 'theory of the sign' defined a sign as being made up of the matched pair of signifier and signified.
Signifier The signifier is the pointing finger, the word, the sound-image. Sign (semiotics) There are two major theories about the way in which signs acquire the ability to transfer information; both theories understand the defining property of the sign as being a relation between a number of elements.
In the tradition of semiotics developed by Ferdinand de Saussure the sign relation is dyadic, consisting only of a form of the sign (the signifier) and its meaning (the signified). Saussure saw this relation as being essentially arbitrary motivated only by social convention. Saussure's theory has been particularly influential in the study of linguistic signs. Signifier. Seme.