Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913) was a pioneer in semiotics who broke down signs into two parts: the signified, which is the concept, and the signifier, which is the form that the sign takes. Charles Sanders Peirce (1839-1914) defined three types of signs: icons which resemble their referents, indexes which indicate a relationship to something else, and symbols which are arbitrarily defined by social conventions. Semiotics studies how signs relate to their referents (semantics), how signs relate to each other (syntactics), and how signs are used in social contexts (pragmatics). While semiotics helps understand the meaning of messages, it focuses narrowly on

1. Semiotic Tradition
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2. Classifications
Ferdinand de Saussure
- (1857-1913) a linguist of
Semiotics
- Broke down the definition
of “sign” into two
meanings
-Signified and Signifier
“Saussure images”<
http://geography.ruhosting.nl/geography/index.php?title=Fe
rdinand_de_Saussure> accessed 9th August 2013

3. Saussure (1857)
“Semiotics”
<http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/signified?language=es_E

4. Signified -Signifier
“We Are Open Sign” <torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com>

5. Saussure (1857)
• Saussure concentrated more on written and
spoken language ,
• The connection between the Signified and the
Signifier is arbitrary.
• Though the language structure is arbitrary,
language usage is not. It needs ‘established
conventions’ (LittleJohn and Foss 2008, p. 107).

6. Charles Sanders Peirce
-(1839-1914)
-A connection among
a sign, an object and
a meaning.

7. Icons
• Iconcs: resemble its referent in some way.
For instance,
Superman has well-defined
‘hero-iconic’ qualities-past
Heroic figures.
“Superman” http://supersebas.deviantart.com/art/FOREVER-SUPERMAN-
41721563 accessed 10th August 2013

8. Indexes
• Indexses: indicate something in relation to
something else. Unlike icons, indexes doesn’t
resemble their referent.
For instance,
Human indexicality-
Pointing index finger
“pointing fingers” <http://bocsupportnetwork.com/pointing-fingers-makes-
us-feel-better-but-does-nothing-luke-131-5/> accessed 9th August 2013

9. Symbols
• A symbol is a sign that stands for something in ‘an
arbitrary convention-based way’.
• Symbols bear meanings derived from conventions in
society, based on different contexts.
For example, a V-sign made with
the index and middle fingers
can stand symbolically
for the concept ‘peace’.
“peace sign”<http:www.rapgenius.com> accessed 9th August 2013

10. Semantics, Syntactics and Pragmatics
• Semantics looks at how signs relate to their
referent.
• Syntactics focuses the connections between
signs.
• Pragmatics observes how signs are practiced
and impacted on social life.

11. Scope and Limitations
• It supports in understanding ‘what goes into a
message’. For example, a speech
• It also helps understand ‘how the message
comes to have meaning’ (Littlejohn and Foss
2008, p. 105).
• But, it narrowly focuses on sign and its
functions.

12. Question
How does Semiotic tradition apply to our daily
communication?

13. Reference
• Littlejohn, S and Foss, K. 2008, Theories of
Human Communication, Waveland Press, Inc.;
9 edition. USA