LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 14:8 August 2014
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Semiotics:
The Representation, Construction and Evaluation of Reality

Mohammad Firoj Al Mamun Khan

Abstract

Semiotics works with signs and has developed based on the sign system as propounded by Saussure. Centering on the sign systems of Charles Sanders Peirce, an American philosopher and Ferdinand De Saussure, a Swiss Linguist, Semiotics takes into account diverse areas and parallels those to the linguistic signification system. In the process, the scope and nature of the fields have been broadened deviating at times from the central notions of its origin. The current paper focuses on the purpose of its use, its functional procedures and on how it cuts across other disciplines.

Introduction

As semiotics functions based on sign system that is, linguistic system, at first we need to focus, on sign and its associated areas that underpin the system of language. According to Charles Sander Peirce (Peirce, 1931-35), who is considered as one of the proponents of his own brand of semiotics, the other being Ferdinand de Saussure, anything that signifies something or somebody is a sign. He considered sign as a part of the social life.

The foundational basis of the structural semiotics is the sign. It deals with anything that can be regarded as a sign (Eco, 1976). According to Saussure, (Saussure, 1983) sign is a structure that has intrinsic meaning and is a psychological entity, not the material thing. From Saussurean perspective, sign has two parts—signifier—the sound image and signified—the concept. In this sign system, the referent that is the object, that the signifier stands for, is left out or left aside.

The signifier and signified are not connected naturally. According to Saussure, there is no essential and inherent connection between the signified and signifier. However, even as, there is no connection at the ontological level; there is connection at the social or historical level. In other words, epistemologically there is a connection. When we communicate in a language community by using signs, the language users have the shared knowledge about and familiarity with certain conventions and codes in which these signs operate. This mutual negotiation among the language users is an aspect that falls under the purview of epistemology and it is done based on prior historical and social agreement.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Mohammad Firoj Al Mamun Khan, M.A. in English Literature and Language
Assistant Professor
Department of English
American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB)
Banani
Dhaka 1212
Bangladesh
firozkhan@aiub.edu
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