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3. Sign Systems and Iconicity

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Study of signs: the study of signs and symbols of all kinds, ... (a) the representamen (sign vehicle) the form which the sign takes (b) the interpretant (sense) ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: 3. Sign Systems and Iconicity


1
3. Sign Systems and Iconicity
2
3 Sign Systems Iconicity
  • 3.0 Introducing Semiotics
  • Semiotics (from Greek semeîon sign)
  • Study of signs the study of signs and symbols of
    all kinds, what they mean, and how they relate to
    the things or ideas they refer to.
  • Sign thing representing something else
    something that indicates or expresses the
    existence of something else not immediately
    apparent.
  • Language is a system of communication.
  • language is a system of signs that expresses
    ideas.
  • Linguistic sign the combination of a form and a
    meaning.
  • hand ?
  • Semiotics human and non-human communicative
    behavior
  • FORM and MEANING

3
3.1 Saussures Theory
  • 3.1. Saussures Theory of (Linguistic) Signs
  • A two-part sign system.
  • the signifier (fr. signifiant)
  • the signified (fr. signifié)
  • The signified MEANING
  • The signifier FORM
  • intimately linked and each triggers the other.

4
3.1 Saussures Theory
  • MEANING concept FORM sound image.
  • Psychological!
  • Two fundamental characteristics of linguistic
    sign
  • Principle I the sign is arbitrary
  • The link between signal and signification is
    arbitrary. Since we are treating a sign as the
    combination in which a signifier is associated
    with a signified, we can express this more simply
    as the linguistic sign is arbitrary.

5
3.1 Saussures Theory
  • In the typical instance in a language, the
    connection between form and meaning is arbitrary.
  • Arbitrariness -- the meaning is not in any way
    predictable from the form, nor is the form
    dictated by the meaning.
  • Nonarbitrariness icons
  • big da dai
  • li means bed in French (lit), meadow in
    English (lea), and ?, ?, ?, ?, ? in
    Mandarin.
  • the organizing principle for the whole of
    linguistics
  • The consequences are innumerable.

6
3.1 Saussures Theory
  • The signifier is unmotivated.
  • Principle II linear character of the signifier
  • The linguistic signifier, being auditory in
    nature, has a temporal aspect, and hence certain
    temporal characteristics (a) it occupies a
    certain temporal space, and (b) this space is
    measured in just one dimension it is a line.
  • It is a fundamental principle and its
    consequences are incalculable. The whole
    mechanism of linguistic structure depends upon
    it. (Saussure p. 170)

7
3.2 Peirces Theory
  • 3.2. Peirce Threefold of Signs
  • A triadic sign model.
  • Peirces sign model a triple connection of
    sign, thing signified, cognition produced in the
    mind.
  • (a) the representamen (sign vehicle)
  • the form which the sign takes
  • (b) the interpretant (sense)
  • the sense made of the sign
  • (c) the object (referent)
  • to which the sign refers
  • Signs only exist in the mind of the interpreter.
    Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a
    sign.

8
3.2 Peirces Theory
  • Semiosis (????) the interaction of A, B, and C
    the process in which the sign has a cognitive
    effect on its interpreter.
  • Ex. (1) the traffic light sign for stop
  • A. a red light facing the traffic at an
    intersection
  • B. the idea that a red light indicates that
    vehicles must stop
  • C. vehicles halting
  • Ex. (2) TREE -- A. tri B. the idea of tree
    C.

9
3.2 Peirces Theory
  • threefold of signs according to the relation
    between the signal carrying the sign and the
    object.
  • Three different types of signs symbols, indices
    and icons
  • Three Types of Signs
  • An indexical sign, or index, points to something
    in its immediate vicinity.
  • the etymology of the Latin word index pointing
    finger.
  • Ex. a signpost for traffic ?
  • raising ones eyebrows
  • a knock on a door
  • a smoke from a window

10
3.2 Peirces Theory
  • An iconic sign, or icon, (from Greek eikon
    replica) provides a visual, auditory or any
    other perceptual image of the thing it stands
    for.
  • An iconic sign is similar to the thing it
    represents..
  • Some road signs
  • A symbolic sign, or symbol, does not have a
    natural link between the form and the thing
    represented, but only has a conventional link.
  • Some traffic signs
  • Greek word symbolon a token of recognition

11
3.2 Peirces Theory
  • Three Subtypes of Icons
  • images, diagrams, metaphors
  • 1. Image
  • achieves similarity by partaking of some of the
    simple quality of its object (e.g., a portrait or
    a photograph.)
  • Visual image (e.g. a portrait)
  • Auditory image (e.g. an onomatopoeia)
  • Olfactory image (e.g. perfume)
  • Gustatory image (e.g. flavor extracts for
    cooking purpose)
  • 2. Diagram
  • exhibits a structure analogous to the structure
    of its object (e.g. maps and floor plans).

12
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13
Fields of Specialization in Humanities
14
3.2 Peirces Theory
  • a greater degree of abstraction.
  • The interpretation of a diagram is rule-governed.
  • Metaphor
  • represents a parallelism in something else.
  • A metaphor states that something is equivalent
    to another thing which is not usually associated
    with it. (Two unlike notions are implicitly
    related, to suggest an identity between them.)
  • Friendship is a sheltering tree. (John Milton)
  • A woman without a man is a fish without a
    bicycle. (an anonymous feminist)

15
3.2 Peirces Theory
  • Table I Main Characteristics of the Subtypes of
    Icons

16
3.2 Peirces Theory
  • Comparing the Three Types of Signs
  • a hierarchy of abstraction
  • index lt icon lt symbol
  • a hierarchy of conventionality
  • index lt icon lt symbol
  • Sign
  • Index Icon
    Symbol
  • Image Diagram Metaphor
  • ----------------------------------------? degree
    of abstraction
  • ----------------------------------------? degree
    of conventionality

17
3.2 Peirces Theory
  • Table II Links in the three types of signs
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