And a proposition is a propositional sign in its projective relation
to the world.
3.13 A proposition, therefore, does not actually contain its sense, but
does contain the possibility of expressing it. ('The content of a
proposition' means the content of a proposition that has sense.) A
proposition contains the form, but not the content, of its sense.
3.14 What constitutes a propositional sign is that in its elements (the
words) stand in a determinate relation to one another. A propositional sign
is a fact.
3.141 A proposition is not a blend of words.(Just as a theme in music is
not a blend of notes.) A proposition is articulate.
3.142 Only facts can express a sense, a set of names cannot.
3.143 Although a propositional sign is a fact, this is obscured by the
usual form of expression in writing or print. For in a printed proposition,
for example, no essential difference is apparent between a propositional
sign and a word. (That is what made it possible for Frege to call a
proposition a composite name.)
3.1431 The essence of a propositional sign is very clearly seen if we
imagine one composed of spatial objects (such as tables, chairs, and books)
instead of written signs.
3.1432 Instead of, 'The complex sign "aRb" says that a stands to b in the
relation R' we ought to put, 'That "a" stands to "b" in a certain relation
says that aRb.
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