Actually, I had to look it up - Google it - and the best that I could come up with was on the excellent Dictionary.com
Semiotics (noun) is:
1. The study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behaviour; the analysis or systems of communication, as language, gestures, or clothing.
2. A general theory of signs and symbolism usually divided into the branches of pragmatics, semantics, and syntactics.
OK then… let’s do an exercise! Think, like you do, about semantics, an element of semiotics. When we talk about ‘going to the well to get water’, most would understand that a well is a hole created to bring water to the surface. BUT, we could use the word “well” to indicate that things are right in the world, that something was done correctly or that someone is in good health. However, it is more challenging for search engines – a sad but real consideration these days - to determine the meaning of “well” without context.
With me so far? No? Right, before we get too far ahead of ourselves, or people start to glaze over, why don’t we play a round of Semiotics for Beginners?
So, what do we know? We know that semiotics is the study of signs (dictionary.com told us!). But to fully understand semiotics, we have to agree about the term “sign.” Semioticians (scholars who specialize in semiotics) are not traffic sign or store sign experts. When the experts refer to “signs” they are talking about cultural symbols, the building blocks of language and communication. A Semiotician is not interested in a traffic sign, e.g. a stop sign, for its own sake. Instead they analyze the linguistic or symbolic process that makes a red octagon a universal symbol for coming to a stop at a junction and the cognitive process that helps drivers arrive at this universal understanding.
Semioticians see signs in two ways: a signifier that stands for or refers to a particular person, object, or idea and a signified, which is the particular person, object, or idea being referred to. Semioticians focus on the relationship between a sign and the thing or concept that it stands for; the relationship between various signs (for instance, how do a stop sign and a speed limit sign work together?); and the relationship between signs and the people who interpret them. Semiotics has far-reaching implications for linguistics because technically, all language is composed of signs. When people speak or write, they communicate in words, which are signs. The arrangement of letters in word forms is the signifier, and the word’s meaning is the signified. Through the use of signs, we express ideas concerning people, objects and concepts that are not physically present simply by referring to them through words. This process is at the core of all language.
However, signs are everywhere; facial expressions, body language, artistic symbols and visual cues of all kinds. A designer hand-bag can be a ‘sign’ of wealth and prestige in a magazine advertisement. A halo can be a sign of divinity in a medieval painting. Rising to one’s feet when a judge enters a courtroom can serve as a gesture (a sign) of respect. In that way, semiotics actually has broad implications for the study of culture and interpersonal psychology in general.
Another hugely dynamic strand to semiotics is the development of semantic search engines and the semantic web. Semantic search will understand the context of the user’s request to retrieve the most relevant data.
In our world, semiotics is set to become a fascinating strand of Consumer Research. But, there is just so much to learn and understand about semiotics that it’s not going to be a quick process. The real concern is that a lot of people out there are going to diminish the value of the actual science by ‘feigning knowledge’. But as consumer space becomes more and more dense, semiotics is going to provide the differentiating data about why we react the way we do to products, services and trends.
We’ll be returning to this subject on a regular basis. Thanks for listening.
Semiotics – it’s a sign of the times I’m afraid!
Posted by Idealogy
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