Triadic relation
The triadic (three part) model of the sign separates the meaning of a sign into three distinct components:
1. The representamen, which is the medium, or ‘sign vehicle’, [1] through which the sign is represented. For example, this could be written/spoken words, a photograph, or a painting. [2]
2. The interpretant, or what is meant by the sign. [2]
3. The object, or that to which the sign refers. [2]
Together, these three components generate semiosis. For example, an exclamation mark can be broken down into these components. The representamen is the exclamation mark itself, the interpretant is the idea of excitement or an elevated volume of speech, and the object is the actual excitement or elevated volume of speech to which it refers. While it might appear that the latter two are the same, the subtle difference lies in the fact that the interpretant refers to the idea of something, and the object is the thing itself.
The representamen component of the sign can be further broken down into three categories, which are icon, index, and symbol. [1] These denote the degree of abstraction from the object to which they refer. A symbol, which is the most abstract, does not resemble or bear any physical relation to the thing that it represents in any way. For example, a peace sign has no relation to peace aside from its social construction as a symbol that represents it. An icon is slightly less abstract, and resembles to some degree the thing that it represents, and bears some physical likeness to it. A good example of this would be a painted portrait. An index is the least arbitrary category of representamen, and has a definite physical tie to that which it represents. This could be something like a weather vane blowing in the wind indicating that it is windy out, or smoke, which indicates a fire.
The triadic model of the sign was proposed by Charles Peirce. In contradistinction to Ferdinand de Saussure's dyadic model, which assumed no material referent, Peirce's model assumes that in order for a sign to be meaningful, it must refer to something external and cannot be self-contained, as it is for Saussure. Thus, Peirce's model includes the addition of an 'object'. The ‘representamen’ and ‘interpretant’ components of the triadic model are comparable to Saussure's dyadic model of the sign, which breaks down into signified and signifiier. [2]
Semiotics is the systematic study of sign processes and the communication of meaning. In semiotics, a sign is defined as anything that communicates intentional and unintentional meaning or feelings to the sign's interpreter.
A connotation is a commonly understood cultural or emotional association that any given word or phrase carries, in addition to its explicit or literal meaning, which is its denotation.
In linguistics and philosophy, the denotation of a word or expression is its strictly literal meaning. For instance, the English word "warm" denotes the property of having high temperature. Denotation is contrasted with other aspects of meaning including connotation. For instance, the word "warm" may evoke calmness, coziness, or kindness but these associations are not part of the word's denotation. Similarly, an expression's denotation is separate from pragmatic inferences it may trigger. For instance, describing something as "warm" often implicates that it is not hot, but this is once again not part of the word's denotation.
In semiotics, a sign is anything that communicates a meaning that is not the sign itself to the interpreter of the sign. The meaning can be intentional, as when a word is uttered with a specific meaning, or unintentional, as when a symptom is taken as a sign of a particular medical condition. Signs can communicate through any of the senses, visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or taste.
Interpretant is a subject / sign that refers to the same object as another sign, transitively.
In semiotics, a modality is a particular way in which information is to be encoded for presentation to humans, i.e. to the type of sign and to the status of reality ascribed to or claimed by a sign, text, or genre. It is more closely associated with the semiotics of Charles Peirce (1839–1914) than Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913) because meaning is conceived as an effect of a set of signs. In the Peircean model, a reference is made to an object when the sign is interpreted recursively by another sign, a conception of meaning that does in fact imply a classification of sign types.
In semiotics, denotation is the surface or the literal meaning, the definition most likely to appear in a dictionary.
In semiotics, connotation arises when the denotative relationship between a signifier and its signified is inadequate to serve the needs of the community. A second level of meanings is termed connotative. These meanings are not objective representations of the thing, but new usages produced by the language group.
Representation is the use of signs that stand in for and take the place of something else. It is through representation that people organize the world and reality through the act of naming its elements. Signs are arranged in order to form semantic constructions and express relations.
A sign relation is the basic construct in the theory of signs, also known as semiotics, as developed by Charles Sanders Peirce.
The logic of information, or the logical theory of information, considers the information content of logical signs and expressions along the lines initially developed by Charles Sanders Peirce. In this line of work, the concept of information serves to integrate the aspects of signs and expressions that are separately covered, on the one hand, by the concepts of denotation and extension, and on the other hand, by the concepts of connotation and comprehension.
In semiotics a sign relational complex is a generalization of a sign relation that allows for empty components in the elementary sign relations or sign relational triples of the form.
Trikonic, is a proposed method of philosophical analysis-synthesis. It is based on Charles Sanders Peirce's "trichotomic", which he described in 1888 as "the art of making three-fold divisions". Trikonic, or "diagrammatic trichotomic", was developed by Gary Richmond in 2005.
John Deely was an American philosopher and semiotician. He was a professor of philosophy at Saint Vincent College and Seminary in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Prior to this, he held the Rudman Chair of Graduate Philosophy at the Center for Thomistic Studies, located at the University of St. Thomas (Houston).
Charles Sanders Peirce began writing on semiotics, which he also called semeiotics, meaning the philosophical study of signs, in the 1860s, around the time that he devised his system of three categories. During the 20th century, the term "semiotics" was adopted to cover all tendencies of sign researches, including Ferdinand de Saussure's semiology, which began in linguistics as a completely separate tradition.
Social semiotics is a branch of the field of semiotics which investigates human signifying practices in specific social and cultural circumstances, and which tries to explain meaning-making as a social practice. Semiotics, as originally defined by Ferdinand de Saussure, is "the science of the life of signs in society". Social semiotics expands on Saussure's founding insights by exploring the implications of the fact that the "codes" of language and communication are formed by social processes. The crucial implication here is that meanings and semiotic systems are shaped by relations of power, and that as power shifts in society, our languages and other systems of socially accepted meanings can and do change.
Visual semiotics is a sub-domain of semiotics that analyses the way visual images communicate a message.
The following is a list of semiotics terms; that is, those words used in semiotics, the discussion, classification, criticism, and analysis of the study of sign processes (semiosis), analogy, metaphor, signification and communication, signs and symbols. This list also includes terms which are not part of semiotic theory per se but which are commonly found alongside their semiotic brethren - these terms come from linguistics, literary theory and narratology.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to semiotics:
Film semiotics is the study of sign process (semiosis), or any form of activity, conduct, or any process that involves signs, including the production of meaning, as these signs pertain to moving pictures. Film semiotics is used for the interpretation of many art forms, often including abstract art.
