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However, Lacan draws an important distinction between the concepts of [[language]] and code.<ref>see E, 84</ref>
Codes are the province of animal communication, not of [[intersubjective communication]].
Whereas the elements of a language are [[signifierssignifier]]s, the elements of a code are ''indices'' (see [[index]]).
The fundamental difference is that there is a fixed bi-univocal (one-to-one) relationship between an index and its [[referent]], whereas there is no such relationship between a [[signifier]] and a referent or between a signifier and a [[signified]].
Because of the bi-univocal relation of indices and referents, codes lack what Lacan regards as the fundamental feature of human languages: the potential for ambiguity and equivocation.<ref>see Lacan, 1973b</ref>
