Signifier =>The word or symbol to we use to represent something Signified => That to which we are referring to [the word or sound of "Tree" (signifier) to the object or concept when we hear "Tree" (signified)] - The object or idea itself is the 'referent'.
There's no reason the letters C-A-T (or the sound the word makes) produce exactly the image of the small, domesticated animal with fur, four legs and a tail in our minds. It is a result of "convention".
One thing is defined simply as being different from another. Language is a "system of interdependent terms (whose value) results solely from the simultaneous presence of others" - so words mean nothing without the other words around them. You can't have a "stand-alone" element.
Readers must separate a literary work from its creator in order to liberate the text from "interpretive tyranny". "Language itself can speak once the author is removed."
A shift in philosophy that took place in the early 20th century from an emphasis on knowledge and ideas to an emphasis on language. Provided the ground work for STRUCTURALISM and POSTSTRUCTURALISM.