Most women stabilize any water retention weight within a few months. However, if weight gain is excessive, check with your doctor to make sure hormone and blood sugar levels are normal, as excessive abdominal fat increases the risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.
Semiotics is the study of signs. In language, signs are part of the existing structure that we use to communicate. That structure is called la langue. Each sign is made up of the signifier (the word) and the signified (the concept).
The rise of semiotics and sign theory in linguistics and literary criticism represents the emergence of a visual metaphor for discourse. Text has become the preferred word not just for discourse in general but in fact for anything that carries meaning (e.g., the textuality of clothing or the semiotics of driving).