编辑“︁能指”︁（章节）

==能指與所指的關係==
索緒爾在1916年出版的《[[普通語言學教程]]》中，將語言符號分為兩個明確的部分：能指（即「音響形象」）與所指（即「概念」）。對索緒爾而言，能指與所指都是純粹心理層面的存在：它們是「形式」，而非「實質」。<ref>[[Arthur Asa Berger|Berger, Arthur Asa]]. 2013. "Semiotics and Society." [[Society (journal)|''Soc'']] 51(1):22–26.</ref>{{Rp|22}}

現今，能指通常被理解為概念上的「物質「實質」也就是可以被看見、聽見、觸摸、聞到或嚐到的東西的理想形式。<ref>[[Daniel Chandler|Chandler, Daniel]]. 2017. ''Semiotics: The Basics''. New York: Routledge.</ref>{{Rp|14}}換句話說:「當代評論家傾向於將能指描述為符號所採取的形式呈現，所指描述為符號所指涉的概念。」<ref name="Chandler, 2002, p.18">Chandler, 2002, p. 18.</ref> 能指與所指之間的關係是任意的：「它們之間沒有邏輯上的連結」。<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|9}}這點與「象徵」不同，因為象徵「從來不是完全任意的」<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|9}}<!-- The idea that both the signifier and the signified are inseparable is explained by Saussure's diagram, which shows how both components coincide to create the sign.

In order to understand how the signifier and signified relate to each other, one must be able to interpret signs. "The only reason that the signifier does entail the signified is because there is a conventional relationship at play."<ref name=":2" />{{Rp|4}} That is, a sign can only be understood when the relationship between the two components that make up the sign are agreed upon. Saussure argued that the meaning of a sign "depends on its relation to other words within the system;" for example, to understand an individual word such as "tree," one must also understand the word "bush" and how the two relate to each other.<ref name="Chandler, 2002, p.18"/>

It is this difference from other signs that allows the possibility of a speech community.<ref name=":2">Cobley, Paul and Litza, Jansz. 1997. ''Introducing Semiotics'', Maryland: National Bookworm Inc.</ref>{{Rp|4}} However, we need to remember that signifiers and their significance change all the time, becoming "dated." It is in this way that we are all "practicing semioticians who pay a great deal of attention to signs … even though we may never have heard them before."<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|10}} Moreover, while words are the most familiar form signs take, they stand for many things within life, such as advertisement, objects, body language, music, and so on. Therefore, the use of signs, and the two components that make up a sign, can be and are—whether consciously or not—applied to everyday life.-->