But it isn't just representational. It's also, if not primarily, generative, as it continually refers back to itself and its components

As Saussure well-pointed out, language is representational to other parts of itself. It's why a tree refers to the words "a big brown plant with leaves" or other acceptable words structurally associated to the word tree. There is no metaphysical concept or even necessarily a physical object needed for representation. Only the language itself.