18 symbole

18. Types of signs: characterize and give examples.

We can distinguish the following three types of signs:

Icons: Icons are signs whose signifier bears a close resemblance to the thing they refer to. The signifier is perceived as resembling or imitating the signified (recognizably looking, sounding, feeling, tasting or smelling like it)

metaphors, 'realistic' sounds in 'programme music', sound effects in radio drama, a dubbed film soundtrack, imitative gestures

A road sign showing the silhouette of a car and a motorbike is highly iconic because the silhouettes look like a motorbike and a car.

Symbols: Most words, though, are symbolic signs. We have agreed that they shall mean what they mean and there is no natural relationship between them and their meanings, between the signifier and the signified.

The signifier does not resemble the signified but which is fundamentally arbitrary or purely conventional

so that the relationship must be learnt: e.g. language in general (plus specific languages, alphabetical letters, punctuation marks, words, phrases and sentences), numbers, Morse code, traffic lights, national flags

he road sign with the motorbike and car has, iconic elements, but it also has symbolic elements: a white background with a red circle around it.

These signify 'something is forbidden' simply because we have agreed that that is what they mean.

Indexes: In a sense, indexes lie between icons and symbols. An index is a sign whose signifier we have learnt to associate with a particular signified.

The signifier is not arbitrary but is directly connected in some way (physically or causally) to the signified -

this link can be observed or inferred: e.g. 'natural signs' (smoke as an index of 'fire'; thunder, footprints), medical symptoms (pain, a rash, pulse rate), measuring instruments (weathercock, thermometer, clock, spirit level),

'signals' (a knock on a door, a phone ringing), pointers (a pointing 'index' finger, a directional signpost), personal 'trademarks' (handwriting, catchphrase) and indexical words ('that', 'this', 'here', 'there').

Icon, Index, and Symbol — Three Categories of Signs

A Quick Reminder About Signs

A sign is anything that creates meaning. It’s anything that can be used to represent something else.

Ferdinand de Saussure, the other founder of semiotics saw signs as the basic unit of meaning and he defined two parts of signs.

Signifier — The form of a sign. The form might be a sound, a word, a photograph, a facial expression, a painting of a pipe, etc.

Signified — The concept or object that’s represented. The concept or object might be an actual pipe, the command to stop, a warning of radioactivity.

Peirce said the form a sign takes, it’s signifier, can be classified as one of three types an icon, an index, or a symbol.

An Icon has a physical resemblance to the signified, the thing being represented. A photograph is a good example as it certainly resembles whatever it depicts.

Numbers and alphabets are good examples. There’s nothing inherent in the number 9 to indicate what it represents. It must be culturally learned.

here’s no logical connection between a symbol and what it represents. The connection must be learned