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The term '[[signifying chain]]' ([[French]]:''[[chaîne signifiante]]'', ''[[chaîne du signifiant]]'') is introduced by [[Jacques Lacan]] in 1957 to describe a network of [[signifiers]] (which are linked together) which constitute the [[symbolic]] [[order]].
The [[signifying chain]] is compared to "rings of a necklace that is a ring in another necklace made of rings."<ref>{{E}} p.153</ref>
==Meaning==
A [[signifying chain]] is [[metonymy|metonymic]] in the production of [[meaning]].
A [[signifying chain]] is never complete, because it is always possible to add another [[signifier]] to it, ''ad infinitum''.
[[Signification]] is not present at any one point in the [[chain]], but rather [[meaning]] 'insists' in the movement from one [[signifier]] to another.<ref>{{E}} p.153</ref>
==The subject==
The [[subject]] is inscribed in a [[signifying chain]] before its [[birth]] and after its [[death]].<ref>{{Ec}} p.468</ref>
==Miscellaneous==
The [[signifying chain]] is the stream of [[speech]], in which [[signifier]]s are combined in accordance with the [[law]]s of grammar.
The [[signifying chain]], in its [[diachronic]] dimension is [[syntagmatic]] and [[metonymic]], in its [[synchronic]] dimension, it is associative and [[metaphor]]ic.
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The [[signifying chain]] is inscribed in the [[symbolic]] [[order]].