1 Sign, Signification, and Signifier (here Signal) Nomenclature: a list of terms corresponding with things.

Objections to viewing language as a nomenclature. 1. The view implies that ideas exist independently of words. (ideas do not exist independently of words -- the two aspects of the sign mediate each other?) 2. It does not clarity whether the name is a vocal (physical) or psychological entity. 3. It implies that the link between a name and a thing is unproblematic. Truth in the view that language is a nomenclature: linguistic units are dual in nature. Important: the two elements involved in the linguistic sign are psychological and are connected in the brain by an associative link. Linguistic Sign: a link between a sound pattern and a sound pattern (acoustic-image). It is not a link between a thing and a name. Sound Pattern: the hearers psychological impression of a sound. It is not physical. Signification (signified): the concept. Signal (signifier): the sound pattern (acoustic-image). Sign: the whole that is the associative link of signifier and signification. It is this link. 2 First Principle: The Sign is Arbitrary The link between the signifier and signified is arbitrary. There is no internal (natural) connection between a signifier and a signified. The signifier is unmotivated. The sign itself is arbitrary (rather than the correspondence between signifier and signified) because the sign only is the associative link between signifier and signified. 3 Second Principle: The Linear Quality of the Sign The linguistic sign, being auditory, has a temporal aspect. Temporal Characteristics of the signifier: (a) it occurs in a certain temporal space. (b) this temporal space is one-dimensional. (like a line.)