Semiotics: Understanding Signs, Symbols, and Meaning
1. Semiotics
The word semiotics comes from the Greek word ‘semiotikos,’ which means “an interpreter of the sign.” Therefore, semiotics refers to the study of all written and spoken signs and their interpretation within society. The two main traditions in semiotics were carried out by Saussure (semiology) and Pierce (Semiotics).
2. Signs
A sign is everything that can be interpreted. However, in order to be a sign, it has to have a meaning. The most common signs are road signs, images, sounds, words, and objects. When it comes to its interpretation, there are multiple factors that can influence the process (religion, education, culture, society). Thus, the interpretation of a sign is not the same for everyone.
3. Signification
Signification is the arbitrary relationship between the Saussurean signifier (the physical form of a sign) and the signified (the concept to which the sign refers). It is dyadic (two parts) and arbitrary because, according to Saussure, the form of the signifier could represent any signified. This relationship is represented in the Saussurean diagram by two arrows.
Symbol: must be learned; Icon: resembles or imitates; Index: connects or causes.
4. Semiosis
It is the interaction between the representamen (object) and the interpretant. This relation was developed by Pierce and was triadic (three parts) as the three elements related to the signs appear: the representamen, which is what I see; the object that is what the signs represent; and the interpretant, that is what I understand.
Pierce’s Typology of Signs
5. Symbol
It is a mode in which the signifier does not resemble or imitate the signified. Thus, this relation is arbitrary or purely conventional. This relation must be learned. For instance, the letters of the alphabet, number system, etc.
Icon
It is a mode in which the signifier resembles or imitates the signified by possessing some of its quantities. This relation does not need to be learned. For instance, images, portraits, sounds, metaphors, etc.
Index
It is a mode in which the signifier is not arbitrary but is directly connected in the same way (physically or casually) to the signified. For instance, natural signs (thunders, rain, wind, smoke, etc).
6. Metaphor
It is a figurative figure of speech (i.e., trope) that involves one signified acting as a signifier but referring to a different signified. Metaphors can be verbal or visual (e.g., advertisements). This way, we should make an imaginative leap to visualize the resemblance between both elements. For example, “she is a shining star.”
7. Metonymy
It is a figurative figure of speech (i.e., trope) whose function is based on substitution. In other words, a metonymy involves using one signified to stand for another signified, which is related or associated. It can be visual or spoken. Some examples are:
- Object for cause: “Don’t get hot under the collar.”
- Object for user: “The crown” for the monarchy.
- Substance for form: “Plastic” for credit card.
- Place for event: “Chernobyl changed the attitudes to nuclear power.”
- Place for person: “No. 10” for the British Prime Minister.
- Institution for people: “The government is not backing down.”
- Producer for product: “She owns a Picasso.”
8. Synecdoche
It is a figure of speech (i.e., trope) that is defined by Richard Lanham as the substitution of a part for the whole (e.g., “We need to hire some more hands (workers),” “Two heads are better than one”), the whole for a part (e.g., “I was stopped by the law” – where the law stands for a police officer), and species for genus (e.g., the use of a member of a class (hyponym) for the class (superordinate) which includes it: ‘bread’ for ‘food’).
9. Irony
It is a figure of speech (i.e., trope) in which the signifier refers to the opposite of its literal signified. The ironic statement usually reflects the opposite of the thoughts or feelings of the writer or speaker. For example, “I love it” when meaning “I hate it.”
10. Connotation
It is a term that describes the socio-cultural and personal associations of the sign. These associations are interpreted according to the interpreter’s age, class, or gender. Therefore, the interpreter’s personal background affects the connotative meaning of the sign. Connotation is expressive and involves subjective experience. For example, to understand connotation in images, it is how something is photographed (camera, focus, distance, etc.).
11. Denotation
It is a term that describes the literal, obvious, and commonsense meaning of a sign. In this line, the denotative meaning of an image is what all viewers, regardless of their background and characteristics, would interpret. Denotation involves objective experience. For example, to understand denotation in images refers to what is photographed.
12. Arbitrariness
The absence of any natural or necessary connection between the word’s meaning and its sound or form. Arbitrariness is one of the characteristics of all languages. Although, some words exhibit an apparent connection between sound and sense: Onomatopoeia: “guau;” “tic tac.”
13. Genre
It is a variety assigned in literature or films based on external criteria, speaker’s purpose, and topic (i.e., intended audience, purpose, activity type). Although genres may share some linguistic features, they tend to be associated with the consideration of ideology and power (message type, e.g., ‘biology research article’). Genres are assigned on the basis of use rather than the basis of form. Some examples are fiction satire, romance novels, supernatural, and so on. Regarding films, some genres are comedy, drama, or action.
14. Style
It refers to the linguistic choices of the author. Therefore, it refers to the way writing is dressed up to fit the specific context, purpose, and audience. Some of the elements that contribute to the writer’s style are dialogue, verb tenses, social implications, and linguistic features, e.g., sentence length, relative clauses, use of adjectives, quotations, and so on.
Expository – Descriptive – Persuasive – Narrative
15. Text Type
It refers to the categories assigned and based on internal linguistic criteria (e.g., grammar and lexical features). It is assigned on the basis of form rather than usage.
- Narrative text: Storytelling, events in chronological order.
- Expository text: Essay topics; what is it and why do we study it? Cultural and historical shifts.
- Argumentative text: Answer to a problem. For and against matter. The writer usually argues with another side to convince the reader to join a certain side.
- Descriptive texts: Description is used in all forms of writing to create a vivid impression of a place, person, object, or event.
Literature
Piece of writing, a book, a poem.
16. Register
It is associated with the organization of situation or immediate context and it can be formal or informal according to the background of the group of people using it. It is the particular situational configuration of field, tenor, and mode.
Field
It refers to what the text is about.
- Topic: Science, religion, politics, sports (general topics). Research on writing on biogenetics (specific topic).
- Communicative purposes (persuade/inform/describe): It refers to the ‘why’ of communication and it has different levels. It is possible to identify the general purposes of a register, such as narrating, explaining, and interpreting information. However, it is possible to switch purpose in the middle of a communicative event, which is possible both in speech and writing. It allows the analyst to identify distinct specific purposes.
- Factuality: Does the author intend to convey factual information?
- Expression of stance: Expressions of both personal attitude and epistemic stance, that is, the extent to which information is certain or generalizable. (A newspaper report has little or no overt expression of stance; it simply states what happens. It may convey a certain ideology, but overt markers of stance are generally limited to statements of the source.)
Tenor
- Participants: Addressor (producer) / addressee (intended reader).
- Relation among participants: How they are interrelated. Interactivity? In what way do the participants interact? Consider the social roles and personal relationships among participants.
- Interaction: Directly or indirectly.
- Social role
- Personal relationships among participants
- Different degrees of shared background knowledge
Mode
- Channel: Oral vs. written.
- Production circumstances: Planned or not planned.
Gender vs. Register
Register focuses on lexico-grammar features, showing how the use of particular words, word types, and grammatical features vary systematically according to the situation of (mode, communicative circumstances, and so on. On the other hand, genre has been used to refer to a culturally accepted message type with a conventional internal structure, such as a ‘biology article.’
DA vs. CDA
Discourse analysis examines how stretches of language, considered in their full textual, social, and psychological context, become meaningful and unified for their users, how units of speech larger than a simple sentence are structured. Particularly, CDA helps to reveal some hidden values, positions, and perspectives. It examines the use of discourse in relation to social and cultural issues, such as race, politics, gender, and identity, and asks why the discourse is used in a particular way and what the implications of this kind of use are. CDA aims to uncover power structures embedded in language use.