[...] in one of the two entities that are functives of the sign function, namely the content, the sign function institutes a form, the ‘content-form’, which from the point of view of the purport is arbitrary and which can be explained only by the sign function and is obviously solidary with it. [...] the same thing can be observed in the other of the two entities that are functives of the sign functions, namely the expression.
- Hjelmslev (1961), a pag.54