Humans constantly communicate with each other but sometimes there are communication barriers caused by our differing languages. Each of us has established our own set of vocabulary to represent how we see our world. A key concept in representation is the use of signs. The ‘study of signs’ was founded by Ferdinand de Saussure in Switzerland and Charles Peirce in the USA; they termed their creation semiology and semiotics respectively from the Greek semeion meaning sign.

Semiotics is a wonderful tool for analysing images. Semiotics is also essential in terms of representation for signs and symbols across the world and cultures may differ as it usually is a product of an individual or society’s interpretation. Thus, we need to understand the conclusions that can be drawn from these representations so that the real meaning of a symbol or sign can be clearly understood.

GLOSSARY

Signifier– is the perception of the sign’s physical form which may be observed using our five senses.

Signified– is the idea we associate with the physical form.

Paradigm– expand the possible meanings of a sign and sequence can be interchanged thus suggests different choices for the meaning.

Syntagm–  prevents confusion by limiting the number of meanings and the sequence of the signs affects the meaning of the statement when it is changed.

Iconic signs– resemble what it represents and it may be an image, images or graphical. Although an iconic sign does not necessarily have to resemble physically what it refers to example: maps.  

Index signs– has a direct relationship to what it represents. In example, a thermometer is an index of temperature. A picture of someone sweating lying on a beach is an index of heat.

Symbolic signs– it has an arbitrary relationship with what it represents in a sense that it can only be a sign because there is a general agreement about what it means.

Myths– a potent way of making meanings in society. Signs that take on the values of the dominant ideology of a particular society and make these values seem normal.

Binary oppositions– things that shows their differences but are not natural descriptions but cultural creations  often structurally related to each other and function to order meanings.