In
semiotics
Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes (semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something, ...
, a modality is a particular way in which
information
Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random, ...
is to be
encoded for presentation to humans, i.e. to the type of
sign
A sign is an Physical object, object, quality (philosophy), quality, event, or Non-physical entity, entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to ...
and to the status of reality ascribed to or claimed by a sign, text, or genre. It is more closely associated with the semiotics of
Charles Peirce
Charles Sanders Peirce ( ; September 10, 1839 – April 19, 1914) was an American philosopher, logician, mathematician and scientist who is sometimes known as "the father of pragmatism".
Educated as a chemist and employed as a scientist for t ...
(1839–1914) than
Ferdinand de Saussure
Ferdinand de Saussure (; ; 26 November 1857 – 22 February 1913) was a Swiss Linguistics, linguist, Semiotics, semiotician and philosopher. His ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments in both linguistics and semiotics in the 2 ...
(1857–1913) because
meaning
Meaning most commonly refers to:
* Meaning (linguistics), meaning which is communicated through the use of language
* Meaning (philosophy), definition, elements, and types of meaning discussed in philosophy
* Meaning (non-linguistic), a general te ...
is conceived as an effect of a set of signs. In the Peircean model, a reference is made to an ''object'' when the sign (or ''representamen'') is interpreted recursively by another sign (which becomes its ''
interpretant
Interpretant is a subject (philosophy) / sign (semiotics) that refers to the same object (philosophy) as another sign (semiotics), transitively.
History
The concept of "interpretant" is part of Charles Sanders Peirce's "triadic" theory of the s ...
''), a conception of meaning that does in fact imply a classification of sign types.
Discussion of sign-type
The
psychology of perception
Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system ...
suggests the existence of a common cognitive system that treats all or most sensorily conveyed meanings in the same way. If all signs must also be objects of perception, there is every reason to believe that their modality will determine at least part of their nature. Thus, the
sensory modalities will be
visual
The visual system comprises the sensory organ (the eye) and parts of the central nervous system (the retina containing photoreceptor cells, the optic nerve, the optic tract and the visual cortex) which gives organisms the sense of sight ...
,
auditory,
tactile,
olfactory
The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the special sense through which smells (or odors) are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions, including detecting desirable foods, hazards, and pheromones, and plays a role in taste.
In humans, i ...
,
gustatory,
kinesthetic, etc. A list of sign types would include:
writing
Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...
,
symbol
A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
, index,
image
An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensio ...
,
map,
graph
Graph may refer to:
Mathematics
*Graph (discrete mathematics), a structure made of vertices and edges
**Graph theory, the study of such graphs and their properties
*Graph (topology), a topological space resembling a graph in the sense of discre ...
,
diagram
A diagram is a symbolic representation of information using visualization techniques. Diagrams have been used since prehistoric times on walls of caves, but became more prevalent during the Enlightenment. Sometimes, the technique uses a three ...
, etc. Some combinations of signs can be multi-modal, i.e. different types of signs grouped together for effect. But the distinction between a ''medium'' and a modality should be clarified:
*''text'' is a medium for presenting the modality of natural language;
*''image'' is both a medium and a modality;
*''music'' is a modality for the auditory media.
So, the ''modality'' refers to a certain type of information and/or the representation format in which information is stored. The ''medium'' is the means whereby this information is delivered to the senses of the interpreter. Natural language is the primary modality, having many invariant properties across the auditory media as spoken language, the visual media as written language, the tactile media as
Braille
Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are blind, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille display ...
, and kinetic media as
sign language
Sign languages (also known as signed languages) are languages that use the visual-manual modality to convey meaning, instead of spoken words. Sign languages are expressed through manual articulation in combination with non-manual markers. Sign l ...
. When meaning is conveyed by spoken language, it is converted into sound waves broadcast by the speaker and received by another's ears. Yet this
stimulus cannot be divorced from the visual evidence of the speaker's manner and
gestures
A gesture is a form of non-verbal communication or non-vocal communication in which visible bodily actions communicate particular messages, either in place of, or in conjunction with, speech. Gestures include movement of the hands, face, or ot ...
, and the general awareness of the physical location and its possible
connotative significance. Similarly, meaning that is contained in a visual form cannot be divorced from the
iconicity and implications of the form. If handwritten, is the writing neat or does it evidence emotion in its style. What type of paper is used, what colour ink, what kind of writing instrument: all such questions are relevant to an interpretation of the significance of what is represented. But images are distinguishable from natural language. For
Roland Barthes
Roland Gérard Barthes (; ; 12 November 1915 – 26 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 popul ...
(1915–80), language functions with relatively determinate meanings whereas images "say" nothing. Nevertheless, there is a
rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...
for arranging the parts that are to signify, and an emerging, if not yet generally accepted,
syntax that articulates their parts and binds them into an effective whole. Rhetorician Thomas Rosteck defined rhetoric as “the use of language and other symbolic systems to make sense of our experiences, construct our personal and collective identities, produce meaning, and prompt action in the world".
See also
*
Denotation
In linguistics and philosophy, the denotation of an expression is its literal meaning. For instance, the English word "warm" denotes the property of being warm. Denotation is contrasted with other aspects of meaning including connotation. For ins ...
*
Narrative paradigm
*
Modality (human–computer interaction)
*
Semantics
Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and compu ...
*
Syntactics
Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes (semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something, ...
*
Pragmatics
In linguistics and related fields, pragmatics is the study of how context contributes to meaning. The field of study evaluates how human language is utilized in social interactions, as well as the relationship between the interpreter and the in ...
References
{{Reflist
*Barthes, Roland. ''Elements of Semiology''. (Translated by Annette Lavers & Colin Smith). London: Jonathan Cape. (
964
Year 964 ( CMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
Byzantine Empire
* Arab–Byzantine War: Emperor Nikephoros II continues the reconquest of south-eastern Anatoli ...
1967)
*Barthes, Roland. "The Rhetoric of the Image" in ''Image, Music, Text'' (Translated by Stephen Heath). Hill and Wang. (1977)
*
Chandler, Daniel. (2001/2007). ''Semiotics: The Basics''. London: Routledge.
Semiotics