Sign Systems

A sign system has 2 elements:

• A Signified - the 'concept' represented in the sign
• and, A Signifier - the 'thing' that is represented by the sign

Many signs, however, are polysemic - which means that they will carry many signifieds. For example, The signifier of a knife on a horror poster has many signifieds associated with it... murder/death/horror/angriness/attacks.

Types of Sign

C S Peirce suggested that there are many different sorts of signs and that they all should be treated differently.

The difference comes within the scale of difference between the signifier and the signified.

• The closest relationship is an index sign. These signs are very closely related to the concept they signify - a tim of cat food signifies the cat food inside.
• Iconic signs are like the signified - a photograph is often described as iconic because it is like the person but it clearly separated from them.
• Symbolic signs do not have an obvious relationships - a dove can often be seen as signifying peace and serenity.
• Arbitrary signs are for signs of which the meaning can change. Language is an arbitrary sign - there is no clear connection between the signifier and the signified. Current words could be 'minging' and 'bling' which carry particular conventions with particular groups of people (e.g. young) but are meaningless themselves.