So that what's new in Saussure's thinking about the relationship between signified and signifier is that the sign tied up in this relationship is both arbitrary and differential.

这就是索绪尔所贡献的了,能指和所指的关系,也就是符号的组成方式,是任意的，有差别的。

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选

the signified-signifier relationship, as I said, is arbitrary.

所指和能指的关系，就如我刚才说的，是任意的。

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选

And what this means is we can use --take any arbitrary idea in the world, the idea of a chair or a story or a country, and make a sound or a sign to connect to it.

符号任意性是指,我们可以拿来世间任何想法,比如椅子,故事,或是国家,再发明一种声音或符号来与之相联系

耶鲁公开课 - 心理学导论课程节选