Semiotics

CORE DEFINITION

Semiotics is the systematic study of sign processes and meaning-making. A sign process is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is something that conveys something (usually called meaning) to a receiver. Meaning can be intentionally expressed, such as spoken words with specific meanings, or unintentional, such as symptoms being signs of a particular health condition. Signs can also convey feelings (generally not considered meaning) and can be communicated within an individual (through thought itself) or through any of the senses (visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory). Contemporary semiotics is a branch of science that studies the generation of meaning and various types of knowledge. Semiotics studies signs and symbols as important components of communication. Unlike linguistics, semiotics also studies non-linguistic sign systems. The study of semiotics encompasses signs and sign processes, indication, designation, similarity, analogy, allegory, metonymy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication. It is generally recognized that semiotics has significant anthropological and sociological dimensions; for example, Italian semiotician and novelist Umberto Eco proposed that every cultural phenomenon can be studied as communication. Additionally, some semioticians also focus on its logical dimension.