Semiotic aspects of discourse A BRIEF HISTORY OF
![Semiotic aspects of discourse Semiotic aspects of discourse](https://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-1.jpg)
Semiotic aspects of discourse
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![A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SUBJECT Although interest in signs and the way they A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SUBJECT Although interest in signs and the way they](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-3.jpg)
A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SUBJECT Although interest in signs and the way they communicate has a long history (medieval philosophers, John Locke, and others have shown interest), modern semiotic analysis can be said to have begun with two men—Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857– 1913) and American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (1839– 1914). (Peirce called his system semiotics, and that has become the dominant term used for the science of signs. Saussure’s semiology differs from Peirce’s semiotics in some respects, but as both are concerned with signs)
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![Saussure’s book A Course in General Linguistics, first published posthumously in 1915, suggests the Saussure’s book A Course in General Linguistics, first published posthumously in 1915, suggests the](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-5.jpg)
Saussure’s book A Course in General Linguistics, first published posthumously in 1915, suggests the possibility of semiotic analysis
![Saussure wrote, “The linguistic sign unites not a thing and a name, but a Saussure wrote, “The linguistic sign unites not a thing and a name, but a](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-6.jpg)
Saussure wrote, “The linguistic sign unites not a thing and a name, but a concept and a soundimage. . I call the combination of a concept and a sound image a sign, but in current usage the term generally designates only a soundimage”. His division of the sign into two components, the signifier (or “sound-image”) and the signified or (“concept”), and his suggestion that the relationship between signifier and signified is arbitrary were of crucial importance for the development of semiotics.
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![Many of us have followed the adventures of a detective who is (like all Many of us have followed the adventures of a detective who is (like all](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-11.jpg)
Many of us have followed the adventures of a detective who is (like all classic detectives) a first-class semiotician—although we were unaware of this because we didn’t know about the existence of semiotics. Inevitably, in a Sherlock Holmes mystery story, some situation arises that puzzles everyone, which Holmes then “solves. ” He does this by reading signs that others have ignored or have believed to be trivial or inconsequential.
![In one story, “The Blue Carbuncle, ” Watson finds Holmes examining a hat that In one story, “The Blue Carbuncle, ” Watson finds Holmes examining a hat that](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-12.jpg)
In one story, “The Blue Carbuncle, ” Watson finds Holmes examining a hat that had been brought to him by a policeman. Watson describes the hat: It is old, its lining is discolored, and it is cracked, very dusty, and spotted in places. Holmes asks Watson what he can deduce from the hat about its wearer. Watson examines the hat and says that he can deduce nothing. .
![Holmes then proceeds to describe, in remarkable detail, what the man who owns the Holmes then proceeds to describe, in remarkable detail, what the man who owns the](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-13.jpg)
Holmes then proceeds to describe, in remarkable detail, what the man who owns the hat is like: He is highly intellectual, has had a decline in fortune, his wife no longer loves him, he is sedentary, and he probably doesn’t have gas in his house. Watson exclaims, “You are certainly joking, Holmes. ” Holmes then shows Watson how he reached his conclusions. He examined the hat, noticed certain things about it (signifiers), and proceeded from there (described the implied signifieds):
![Signifiers Cubic capacity of hat (large brain) Good-quality hat, but 3 years old Hat Signifiers Cubic capacity of hat (large brain) Good-quality hat, but 3 years old Hat](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-14.jpg)
Signifiers Cubic capacity of hat (large brain) Good-quality hat, but 3 years old Hat was not brushed in weeks Dust on hat is brown house dust Wax stains from candles on Signifieds Man is intellectual. Man hasn’t a new hat, suggesting decline in fortune. Man’s wife no longer loves him. Man seldom goes out. No gas in the house.
![Holmes explains Watson’s mistake: “You fail. . . to reason from what you see. Holmes explains Watson’s mistake: “You fail. . . to reason from what you see.](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-15.jpg)
Holmes explains Watson’s mistake: “You fail. . . to reason from what you see. You are too timid in drawing your inferences. ” Watson had said that he saw nothing in the hat. What he did was fail to recognize the signifiers he found for what they were. Such failure is common in readers of detective novels, who pass over vital information and don’t recognize it for what it is. Some semioticians, on the other hand, are not timid enough in drawing their inferences, but that is another matter.
![The meanings in signs, and in texts (which can be viewed as collections of The meanings in signs, and in texts (which can be viewed as collections of](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-16.jpg)
The meanings in signs, and in texts (which can be viewed as collections of signs), are not always (or even often) evident; they have to be elicited.
![According to Saussure: 1. Semiotics is concerned with how meaning is created and conveyed According to Saussure: 1. Semiotics is concerned with how meaning is created and conveyed](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-17.jpg)
According to Saussure: 1. Semiotics is concerned with how meaning is created and conveyed in texts and, in particular, in narratives (or stories). 2. The focus of semiotics is the signs found in texts. Signs are understood to be combinations of signifiers and signifieds. 3. Because nothing has meaning in itself, the relationships that exist among signs are crucial. An analogy can be made with words and grammar: It is the ways in which words are combined that determine what they mean. Language is a social institution that tells how words are to be used; speaking is an individual act based on language. 4. Texts can be viewed as being similar to speech and as implying grammars or languages that make the texts meaningful. Codes and conventions make the signs in a narrative understandable and also shape the actions.
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![Peirce, on the other hand, focused on three aspects of signs: their iconic, indexical, Peirce, on the other hand, focused on three aspects of signs: their iconic, indexical,](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-21.jpg)
Peirce, on the other hand, focused on three aspects of signs: their iconic, indexical, and symbolic dimensions.
![INTERPRETING SIGNS Semiotics is the study of meaning making through signs and is premised INTERPRETING SIGNS Semiotics is the study of meaning making through signs and is premised](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-22.jpg)
INTERPRETING SIGNS Semiotics is the study of meaning making through signs and is premised on the notion that signs have a triadic quality (Danesi and Santeramo, 1999).
![There is the physical sign itself (e. g. , word, gesture); the entity being There is the physical sign itself (e. g. , word, gesture); the entity being](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-23.jpg)
There is the physical sign itself (e. g. , word, gesture); the entity being referred to (e. g. , object, idea), and the sign‘s meaning or signification.
![Figure 1. The triadic relationship of sign, referent, and meaning Figure 1. The triadic relationship of sign, referent, and meaning](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-24.jpg)
Figure 1. The triadic relationship of sign, referent, and meaning
![According to Pierce (1999) a sign‘s meaning arises in its interpretation. Pierce (1999) explains According to Pierce (1999) a sign‘s meaning arises in its interpretation. Pierce (1999) explains](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-25.jpg)
According to Pierce (1999) a sign‘s meaning arises in its interpretation. Pierce (1999) explains that a sign ―addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign, or perhaps a more developed sign. Furthermore, this mental interpretation includes the emotions, ideas and feelings that the sign evokes for a person at that time. Pierce refers to the sign‘s meaning as the interpretant.
![Pierce (1999) also describes three ways that signs are created – resemblance, relation, and Pierce (1999) also describes three ways that signs are created – resemblance, relation, and](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-26.jpg)
Pierce (1999) also describes three ways that signs are created – resemblance, relation, and convention – in turn represented through: icons, indexes, and symbols.
![Icons are signs resulting from resemblance, constructed to resemble their referents in some way Icons are signs resulting from resemblance, constructed to resemble their referents in some way](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-27.jpg)
Icons are signs resulting from resemblance, constructed to resemble their referents in some way (e. g. , photographs, diagrams, models).
![Indexes are signs that show relations of some kind to something else in time, Indexes are signs that show relations of some kind to something else in time,](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-28.jpg)
Indexes are signs that show relations of some kind to something else in time, space, location (e. g. , pointing finger, arrow, timeline graph, adverb – here, there, I, you, they).
![Symbols stand for some conventional practice: e. g. : 1) the V sign stands Symbols stand for some conventional practice: e. g. : 1) the V sign stands](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-29.jpg)
Symbols stand for some conventional practice: e. g. : 1) the V sign stands for peace, 2) Greek letters representing constants in math and in science - electrical resistance Ω (omega) 3)words, 4) sentences, 5) a knowledge system of society, 6) examples of symbols include: terms, equations, and formulae.
![Eco (1979) expands Pierce‘s (1999) notion of sign and describes a sign as ― Eco (1979) expands Pierce‘s (1999) notion of sign and describes a sign as ―](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-30.jpg)
Eco (1979) expands Pierce‘s (1999) notion of sign and describes a sign as ― everything that, on the grounds of a previously established social convention, can be taken as something standing for something else.
![Eco illustrates this with the term ―dog‖ – the term ―dog‖ does not refer Eco illustrates this with the term ―dog‖ – the term ―dog‖ does not refer](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-31.jpg)
Eco illustrates this with the term ―dog‖ – the term ―dog‖ does not refer to a specific, real dog in the room; it refers to all dogs in the world which is a class or set that cannot be perceived as a real object by the senses.
![SIGNS AND TRUTH Umberto Eco (1976), a distinguished Italian semiotician, has suggested that if SIGNS AND TRUTH Umberto Eco (1976), a distinguished Italian semiotician, has suggested that if](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-32.jpg)
SIGNS AND TRUTH Umberto Eco (1976), a distinguished Italian semiotician, has suggested that if signs can be used to tell the truth, they can also be used to lie: Semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign. A sign is everything which can be taken as significantly substituting for something else. This something else does not necessarily have to exist or to actually be somewhere at the moment in which a sign stands for it.
![Thus semiotics is in principle the discipline studying everything which can be used in Thus semiotics is in principle the discipline studying everything which can be used in](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-33.jpg)
Thus semiotics is in principle the discipline studying everything which can be used in order to lie. If something cannot be used to tell a lie, conversely it cannot be used to tell the truth; it cannot be used “to tell” at all.
![Let us consider some ways in which we can (and do) lie—or, to be Let us consider some ways in which we can (and do) lie—or, to be](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-34.jpg)
Let us consider some ways in which we can (and do) lie—or, to be kinder, mislead others—with signs: Area Misleading Signs Wigs Bald persons or persons with different hair color Elevator shoes Short persons made taller Dyed hair Brunettes become blondes, blondes become redheads, etc Falsies Women with small breasts seem to have big ones Impostors Persons pretend to be doctors, lawyers, or whatever Impersonation Persons pretend to be someone else, steal “identity” Malingering Persons pretend to be ill Theater Persons pretend to have feelings, beliefs, and the like Food Imitation crab, shrimp, lobster, and so on Words White lies told so as not to hurt people
![We live in a world full of signs that lie and mislead, and many We live in a world full of signs that lie and mislead, and many](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-35.jpg)
We live in a world full of signs that lie and mislead, and many of us spend a good deal of effort trying to determine whether or not we are being conned. Much of this lying with signs is relatively harmless (e. g. , the blondes who are naturally brunettes), but in some cases (e. g. , the truck driver who pretends to be a doctor) it can be very dangerous. Eco’s point is an important one: If signs can be used to communicate, they can be used to communicate lies.
![Halliday‘s (1994) and Lemke‘s (1998) developed three-level typologies to explain how meaning making occurs Halliday‘s (1994) and Lemke‘s (1998) developed three-level typologies to explain how meaning making occurs](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-36.jpg)
Halliday‘s (1994) and Lemke‘s (1998) developed three-level typologies to explain how meaning making occurs in Discourse. Lemke (1998) outlines three aspects of meaning that are constructed during Discourse: §a presentation of events, actions, relations, processes; §an orientational stance towards and for the presentational content and participants; §the organized and meaningful relations between elements of the discourse.
![The presentational meaning in linguistics mode, according to Lemke (1998), reflects the way we The presentational meaning in linguistics mode, according to Lemke (1998), reflects the way we](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-37.jpg)
The presentational meaning in linguistics mode, according to Lemke (1998), reflects the way we use grammar to construct a theme or topic, or make predictions and arguments. The presentational function of meaning therefore describes participants, processes, relationships, and circumstances.
![The presentational function of meaning therefore describes participants, processes, relationships, and circumstances. It constructs The presentational function of meaning therefore describes participants, processes, relationships, and circumstances. It constructs](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-38.jpg)
The presentational function of meaning therefore describes participants, processes, relationships, and circumstances. It constructs what is actually taking place or what is actually happening in relation to associated participants (agents, instruments) and circumstances (where, why, under what conditions).
![For visual-graphical semiotic resources such as diagrams and graphs, presentational aspects manifest in elements For visual-graphical semiotic resources such as diagrams and graphs, presentational aspects manifest in elements](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-39.jpg)
For visual-graphical semiotic resources such as diagrams and graphs, presentational aspects manifest in elements (e. g. , arrows) that are arranged to illustrate meaningful relations between elements about a concept or topic (Lemke).
![The orientational meaning involves an orientational stance (attitude and viewpoint) towards the presentational content The orientational meaning involves an orientational stance (attitude and viewpoint) towards the presentational content](http://slidetodoc.com/presentation_image_h/2c2d779cc7d0c502ed50ad56883ea9df/image-40.jpg)
The orientational meaning involves an orientational stance (attitude and viewpoint) towards the presentational content and participants. Orientational aspects of meaning in linguistic mode refer to the statuses and roles of participants in the communicative event (e. g. friendly, hostile, formal) and social relationships between producer of text and reader/listener (e. g. pleased, displeased). Orientation also indicates the stance indicated by the text (e. g. an evaluation of the text as good or bad) and how the text positions the reader and the producer in relation to other viewpoints.
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