Ferdinand de Saussure

In this post I will be explaining the concept of Ferdinand De Saussure's Theory of Signs

Saussure was the semantic theorist of the study of signals and how signs are interpreted. The Swiss linguist and semiortican was the one who laid ideas to the foundation of many significant development in both linguistics and semiology in the 20th century.

The way it goes is:

SEMANTICS to SEMIOTICS to GRAPHOLOGY

There is also two types of signs:

Iconic signs - A direct picture of the thing it represents, although often simplified.

Symbolic signs - Drawn on an association or connotation and are usually defined by cultural convention based on existing cultural methods.

Saussure suggested that there was a 'dyadic' or two-part model of the sign. He defined a sign as being composed of:

• A 'signifier' (signifiant) - The form which the sign takes.
• The 'signified' (signifié) - The concept it represents.

The relationship between the signifier and the signified is referred to as 'signification'.

Ferdinand de Saussure