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==Ferdinand Saussure==According to [[Saussure]], the [[signified]] is the [[conceptual ]] element of the [[sign]]. It is not the real [[object]] denoted by a [[sign]] (the [[referent]]), but a [[psychological ]] entity corresponding to such an [object]].<ref>([[Saussure, ]]. 1916: . p.66-7)</ref>
For [[Saussure]], the [[signified]] has the same status as the [[signifier]]; both form equal sides of the [[sign]].
==Jacques Lacan==[[Lacan]], on the other hand, asserts the supremacy primacy of the [[signifier]], and . He argues that the [[signified]] is a mere effect of the play of [[signifier]]s, an effect of the process of [[signification]] produced by [[metaphor]].
In other words, the [[signified]] is not given, but produced.
[[Lacan]]'s view is thus opposed to an expressionist view of [[language]], according to which [[concepts ]] exist in some pre-verbal state before being expressed in the [[material ]] medium of [[language]]. In contrast to such a view, [[Lacan]] asserts the priority (logical rather than chronological) of the [[material ]] element of [[language]]. ==See Also==* [[Signifier]]* [[Sign]]* [[Materialism]]* [[Language]]* [[Metaphor]]* [[Signification]]
== References ==
