''Elements of Semiology'' () is a compendium-like text by French

semiotician Semiotics ( ) is the systematic study of sign processes and the communication of meaning. In semiotics, a sign is defined as anything that communicates intentional and unintentional meaning or feelings to the sign's interpreter. Semiosis is an ...

Roland Barthes Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 25 March 1980) was a French literary theorist, essayist, philosopher, critic, and semiotician. His work engaged in the analysis of a variety of sign systems, mainly derived from Western popu ...

, originally published under the title of "Éléments de Sémiologie" in the French review ''Communications'' (No. 4, 1964, pp. 91–135). The English translation by Annette Lavers and Colin Smith has been published independently as a short book. In the slightly expanded introduction to the book, Barthes suggests that although linguist

Ferdinand de Saussure Ferdinand Mongin de Saussure (; ; 26 November 185722 February 1913) was a Swiss linguist, semiotician and philosopher. His ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments in both linguistics and semiotics in the 20th century. He is wi ...

conceived of

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

as a branch of semiology, semiology should rather be seen as a branch of linguistics.

External links

First half of the book ''Elements of Semiology'' at marxists.org
Books in semiotics 1964 non-fiction books Structuralism French literary criticism Books by Roland Barthes Books of literary criticism {{semiotics-stub book-stub

See also

External links