UNIT 1: History of Semiotics.
Definition of a Sign and definition of Semiotics
SEMIOTICS: It is one of the sciences involved in the communication process. It studies the different signs that humans have created along the passing of time, and how they change from person to person, relying on terms of society and culture.
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SIGN: It is like the atom of language since it is the primordial aspect and the fundament of it. In other words, a sign can be defined as “the concept of concept” within language. At the same time, signs are not only words; they have other forms and they are not only written.
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According to Ferdinand de Saussure, the sign is divided into two important parts: the signified and signifier.
Signified: It is the proper definition of the sign that someone gives it, or people have about it.
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Signifier: It is the representation of the sign, and it could be: visual, spoken, auditory or written.
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All of these aspects mentioned form part of a mental process that occurs unconsciously and quickly in the moment we interact with people.
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Example of it could be the sound of the trash truck, which is like a bell, and we associate it with the coming of the trash car to recollect the trash in our neighborhood. In this case the sign is the sound of the bell and its meaning is that the trash car is approaching.
Contributions of Semioticians
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