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Semiotic Terms
The following are mostly from within the theory of semantics and control as developed
by Joslyn (see the paper  "Semantic
Control Systems").
They have been supplemented from the Glossary of Semiotics, by Vincent Colapietro
[ CoV93].
The general categories considered are:
- Signs and sign-functions
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- Signifiers and tokens
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- Signifieds and objects
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- Degrees of motivation and arbitrariness
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- Proper signs
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- Symbols and codes
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- Laws and semantic closures
- Sign :
- A deterministic, functional regularity
or stability in a system, also sometimes
called a sign-function. Something, the signifier,
stands for something else, the signified, in virtue
of the sign-function. May be either lawful, proper,
or symbolic depending on the presence or absence of motivation. This is, of course, a very general definition,
but it is in the tradition of both semiotics and general systems theory to think
very generally.
Contains: signifier,
signified.
Cases: lawful,
proper, symbolic.
Synonym:
sign function.
- Sign Function :
- Synonym: sign.
- Signifier :
- That part of a sign
which stands for the signified, for example a word or a
DNA codon.
Synonym: token, sign
vehicle.
Part-of: sign.
- Token :
- The physical entity or marker which manifests
the signifer by standing for the signified.
Synonym: signifier, sign
vehicle.
- Sign Vehicle :
- Synonym: token,
signifier.
- Signified :
- That part of a sign
which is stood for by the signifier. Sometimes thought
of as the meaning of the signifier.
Synonym: object, referent,
interpretant.
Part-of: sign.
- Object :
- Synonym: signified,
referent, interpretant.
- Referent :
- Synonym: signified,
object, interpretant.
- Motivation :
- The presence of some degree of
necessity between the signified and siginifier
of a sign. Makes the sign proper,
and complete motivation makes the sign lawful.
For example, a painting may resemble its subject, making it a proper sign.
Antonym:
arbitrariness.
- Arbitrariness :
- The absence of any degree
of necessity between the signified and siginifier
of a sign. Makes the sign symbolic.
For example, in English we say "bachelor" to refer to an unmarried man, but since
we might just as well say "foobar", therefore "bachelor" is a symbol.
Antonym: motivation.
- Proper Sign :
- A sign which
has an intermediate degree of motivation. For example,
a photograph is a proper sign.
isa: sign.
Cases: icon, index.
- Icon :
- A proper sign where
the motivation is due to some kind of physical resemblance
or similarity between the signified and siginifier.
For example, a map is an icon of its territory.
isa: proper
sign.
- Index :
- A proper sign where
the motivation is due to some kind of physical connection
or causal relation between the signified and siginifier.
For example, smoke is an index of fire.
isa: proper
sign.
- Symbol :
- For CS Peirce, a sign
where the sign function is a conventional rule
or coding. The operation of a symbol is dependent on a process
of interpretation.
isa: sign.
- Rule :
- A functional regularity or stability
which is conventional, and thus necessary within the system which manifests it, but
within a wider universe it is contingent, or arbitrary.
For example, if we wish to refer to an unmarried man in English, then we
must say "bachelor", even though "bachelor" is a symbol.
Synonym: code, semantic relation.
Antonym: law.
- Semantic Relation :
- Synonym: code,
rule.
- Code :
- The establishment of a conventional rule-following
relation in a symbol, represented as a deterministic, functional
relation between two sets of entities.
Synonym: semantic
relation, rule.
- Interpret :
- To take something for something else
in virtue of a coding.
- Interpreter :
- That entity, typically a human
subject, which interprets the sign
vehicle of a symbol.
- Interpretant :
- For Peirce, that which followed
semantically from the process of interpretation.
Synonym:
signified, object, referent.
- Law :
- A regularity or stability
which is necessary for all systems, and thus immutable as a fact of nature. The necessity
of the relation is called the sign's motivation.
Antonym: rule.
- Semantic Closure :
- Propounded by Pattee
[ PaH82], the property of real semiotic systems like
organisms, wherein the interpreter is itself a referent
of the semantic relation.
See also:
Copyright© 1998 Principia Cybernetica -
Referencing this page
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Author
C. Joslyn,
Date
May 8, 1998 (modified)
Aug 9, 1995 (created)
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