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The [[symbolic order]] is characterized by a binary opposition between [[absence]] and [[presence]].<ref>{{S4}} p.67-8</ref>

<blockquote>"In the symbolic order nothing exists except upon an assumed foundation of absence. Nothing exists except insofar as it does not exist."<ref>{{Ec}} p.392</ref></blockquote>

This is a basic difference between the [[symbolic]] and the [[real]].

<blockquote>"There is no absence in the real. There is only absence if you suggest that there may be a presence there where there isn't one."<ref>{{S2}} p.313</ref></blockquote>

As [[Roman Jakobson]] showed with his analysis of [[phoneme]]s, all [[linguistic]] phenomena may be entirely characterized in terms of the [[presence]] or [[absence]] of certain distinctive features.

[[Lacan]] sees the game of ''[[fort-da|fort!/da!]]'', which [[Freud]] describes in ''[[Beyond the Pleasure Principle]]'', as a primitive phonemic opposition representing the child's entry into the [[symbolic order]].