LECTURE 4

semiology

science which studies the role of signs as a part of social life

semiosis

the process of creating meaning through signs and symbols

semantics

in symbology, semantics refers to the study of the meaning behind symbols and their significance

syntactic

how symbols are put together visually to make sense and convey meanings

pragmatics

deals with the practical use of signs and symbols in communication. It explores how signs are employed in specific contexts and the impact of social, cultural and situational factors on their interpretation

linguistic sign

is like a link between a word (the sign) and the idea or thing it represents (eg. dog as an idea of an animal)

sign

is a symbol or representation that conveys meaning

index sign

is a type of sign where the connection between the sign and its meaning is based on a direct, casual relationship (eg. smoke is an index sign of fire)

icon sign

is like a simple picture that stands for something because it looks like it (eg. a picture of a sun)

symbol sign

is a representation where the connection between the sign and its meaning is based on convention or agreement (eg. traffic signs are symbol of red octagon for stop)

conventional sign

signs that rely on arbitrary, culturally agreed-upon meanings

natural signs

directly indicate or point to the existence of something without relying on conventional associations

arbitrary signs

these signs have no inherent connection to their meanings

motivated signs

signs where the relationship between the signifier and the signified is based on some inherent connection or resemblance

noise

any unwanted or random interference that disturbs a transmission

digital signs

symbols of representations displayed electronically

analogical signs

convey meaning through analogy or similarity (eg. traffic light colors)

ideational metafunction

is a function of semiotic system that is about using signs and symbols to show and tell things like ideas and facts

interpersonal metafunction

is a function of semiotic system that is about how we use words to talk to each other

paradigms

are like groups of words that you can choose from to use in a similar way like different forms of words

redundancy

using extra or unnecessary words or elements in communication often for clarity or emphasis

inferential model of communication

we have to do our best to figure out what people are thinking based on their behavior