The information value of a symbol depends on the number of alternatives that were killed off in its choosing. Symbols from large vocabularies bear more information than symbols from small ones. Information measures freedom of choice.
This theory of information sounds uncomputable. For an unbound set like words, the unknown size of the vocabulary, or changing in size as a function of time or subculture implies a variable, unknowable amount of information for a static message... Which actually meshes well with postmodernist interpretations of a "text."
