| arbitrariness |
| Definition: The Saussurean belief that the relationship between the signifier (e.g., a word) and the signified (the concept the word stands for) is arbitrary. |
| Example: There's no intrinsic reason why the letters of the signifier D-O-G (or the sound of its phonemes) produce the image of the loyal, domestic animal in our minds. The connection is a result of convention: speakers of the same language have learned and agreed this signifier evokes that concept. |