signifier
English
Noun
signifier (plural signifiers)
- Something or someone that signfies, makes something more significant or important.
- 2008, Diane Rubenstein, This is Not a President: Sense, Nonsense, and the American Political Imaginary
- If commentators have concurred on the characterization of Reagan as a synecdoche, they have also noted his status as a signifier.
- (cartomancy) A card representing a querent, question, or situation.
- 2008, Diane Rubenstein, This is Not a President: Sense, Nonsense, and the American Political Imaginary
- (linguistics) The sound of spoken word or string of letters on a page that a person recognizes as a sign.
Synonyms
- (cartomancy): significator
Translations
something or someone that signfies, makes something more significant or important
(linguistics) the sound of spoken word or string of letters on a page that a person recognizes as a sign
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French
Etymology
From Latin significō, significāre, from signum (“mark, sign, emblem”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /si.ɲi.fje/
audio (file)
Conjugation
Conjugation of signifier (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| present participle | signifiant /si.ɲi.fjɑ̃/ | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| past participle | signifié /si.ɲi.fje/ | ||||||
| infinitive | |||||||
| simple | signifier | ||||||
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| gerund1 | |||||||
| simple | signifiant /si.ɲi.fjɑ̃/ | ||||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | signifie /si.ɲi.fi/ |
signifies /si.ɲi.fi/ |
signifie /si.ɲi.fi/ |
signifions /si.ɲi.fjɔ̃/ |
signifiez /si.ɲi.fje/ |
signifient /si.ɲi.fi/ |
| imperfect | signifiais /si.ɲi.fjɛ/ |
signifiais /si.ɲi.fjɛ/ |
signifiait /si.ɲi.fjɛ/ |
signifiions /si.ɲi.fi.jɔ̃/ |
signifiiez /si.ɲi.fi.je/ |
signifiaient /si.ɲi.fjɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | signifiai /si.ɲi.fje/ |
signifias /si.ɲi.fja/ |
signifia /si.ɲi.fja/ |
signifiâmes /si.ɲi.fjam/ |
signifiâtes /si.ɲi.fjat/ |
signifièrent /si.ɲi.fjɛʁ/ | |
| future | signifierai /si.ɲi.fi.ʁe/ |
signifieras /si.ɲi.fi.ʁa/ |
signifiera /si.ɲi.fi.ʁa/ |
signifierons /si.ɲi.fi.ʁɔ̃/ |
signifierez /si.ɲi.fi.ʁe/ |
signifieront /si.ɲi.fi.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | signifierais /si.ɲi.fi.ʁɛ/ |
signifierais /si.ɲi.fi.ʁɛ/ |
signifierait /si.ɲi.fi.ʁɛ/ |
signifierions /si.ɲi.fi.ʁjɔ̃/ |
signifieriez /si.ɲi.fi.ʁje/ |
signifieraient /si.ɲi.fi.ʁɛ/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | signifie /si.ɲi.fi/ |
signifies /si.ɲi.fi/ |
signifie /si.ɲi.fi/ |
signifiions /si.ɲi.fi.jɔ̃/ |
signifiiez /si.ɲi.fi.je/ |
signifient /si.ɲi.fi/ |
| imperfect2 | signifiasse /si.ɲi.fjas/ |
signifiasses /si.ɲi.fjas/ |
signifiât /si.ɲi.fja/ |
signifiassions /si.ɲi.fja.sjɔ̃/ |
signifiassiez /si.ɲi.fja.sje/ |
signifiassent /si.ɲi.fjas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | signifie /si.ɲi.fi/ |
— | signifions /si.ɲi.fjɔ̃/ |
signifiez /si.ɲi.fje/ |
— | |
| compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
| 1 Only usable with preposition en. | |||||||
| 2 In less formal writing or speech, the past historic, past anterior, imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive tenses may be found to have been replaced with the indicative present perfect, indicative pluperfect, present subjunctive and past subjunctive tenses respectively (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
Further reading
- “signifier” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
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