Semiotics, Language, and Reality: Understanding Signs
Semiotics: The Study of Signs
Semiotics is the science dedicated to the study of signs. It can be divided into three main branches:
- Syntax: Examines the formal relationships signs should have among themselves, regardless of their meaning.
- Semantics: Studies the relationships between signs and the reality they signify (their meaning).
- Pragmatics: Studies signs concerning extralinguistic factors affecting communication, such as context and user interpretation.
Although semiotics distinguishes between syntax, semantics, and pragmatics, these three dimensions are interconnected and often occur simultaneously in communication.
Thought and Language Interplay
The relationship between thought and language is a complex topic. One position, held by linguists like Edward Sapir and sociolinguist Basil Bernstein, suggests that thought is based on and significantly influenced by language.
It’s observable that language facilitates thought flow by giving it form and structure. Imagine wanting a book. If we go to a good bookstore and browse the available options, we can likely make a better decision than if we stayed home just thinking about it. Thinking in a vacuum, without external support like language or concrete options, is more difficult.
However, just because one thing (language) facilitates the development of another (thought) doesn’t mean the latter depends entirely on the former. As an analogy, a strong wind favors the spread of a fire, but the fire itself does not depend solely on the wind for its existence.
A more radical thesis posits that thought is language. This view was proposed by Max Müller in the late 19th century and defended, with variations, by others like Ludwig Wittgenstein. This thesis might seem easy to refute by pointing out that deaf individuals think. However, proponents argue that language is fundamentally a system of signs, which don’t necessarily have to be spoken or written (e.g., sign language constitutes a full linguistic system).
Language and Reality Correspondence
Words refer to things in the world. However, it’s argued that we cannot know the absolute essence of things, only their behavior or how they appear and relate to us. We know what things do, not necessarily what they fundamentally are.
For example, I don’t know the complete essence of ‘man’, but I can observe a man playing basketball or crying. Things exist and are understood in terms of their relationships with other things and their actions. In some philosophical views (like early Wittgenstein), the world consists of facts (states of affairs), not just isolated objects.
To illustrate further, I don’t know the essential ‘substance’ of a person named Laura as if she were a static, final entity. What I know are her attributes and actions: Laura is a girl who is beautiful, cheerful, kind, and perhaps sometimes clueless. Laura is a dynamic, changing being. Yet, I can speak meaningfully about Laura because, according to some philosophical views, language and the world share a common logical structure, allowing language to map onto reality.
Characteristics of Human Language
Human language possesses several key characteristics:
Conventional Nature
Human language is largely conventional. Words don’t inherently or naturally arise from the things they represent. As Jean-Jacques Rousseau claimed, ‘All our languages are works of art.’ The link between a word (the signifier) and its concept (the signified) is typically arbitrary, based on social agreement.
Even onomatopoeia, words imitating sounds, show this conventionality across different languages. For example, a rooster’s crow is represented differently: ‘kikirikí’ in Spanish, ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’ in English, and ‘cocorico’ in French.
Symbolic System
Language is symbolic; it uses signs (like words) to stand in for the things signified (objects, ideas, actions). This crucial feature allows us to communicate about things that are not physically present, abstract concepts, past events, or future possibilities.
Imagine a world without this symbolic capacity, where to refer to an object, we would always have to physically present it to be understood by others. Complex communication would be impossible.
Subjective Aspect
Language also has a subjective element. While words represent realities through shared conventions, they are always uttered or written by individuals.
Words don’t exist independently in the air; they are used by people based on their unique perception, understanding, and interpretation of reality. For instance, the character Don Quixote famously exclaimed, ‘Those dangerous enemies!’ when referring to windmills, expressing his mistaken subjective interpretation of reality.
Language primarily expresses perceived realities, not just abstract internal ideas, although our perceptions can sometimes misinterpret actual reality. If language only expressed purely internal thoughts without connecting to a shared (even if subjectively perceived) external reality, coordinating our actions with others would be practically impossible.