Changes

[[Lacan]] follows [[Freud]] in highlighting the importance of the initial ''dependence'' of the [[development|human infant]] on the '''[[mother]]'''.  [[Lacan]]'s originality lies in the way he draws attention to "the fact that this dependence is maintained by a world of [[language]].<ref>{{E}} p. 309</ref>  The [[mother]] [[interpretation|interpret]]s the [[infant]]'s cries as hunger, tiredness, loneliness, etc. and [[punctuation|retroactively]] determines their [[signification|meaning]] (see [[punctuation]]).  The [[development|child]]'s [[helplessness]] contrasts with the omnipotence of the [[mother]], who can decide whether or not to [[desire|satisfy]] the [[development|child]]'s [[need]]s.<ref>{{S4}} p. 69, 185</ref> The recognition of this contrast engenders a depressive effect in the [[child]].<ref>{{S4}} p. 186</ref>