Ferdinand de Saussure - Signs

Ferdinand de saussure was a semantic theorist who studied how signs are interpreted and the study of signals. There are two types of signs: the iconic and the symbolic signs. As well as this, Saussure suggested that there was a two part model of the sign that included a signifier and the signified.

Two types of signs definitions;

ICONIC - signs that directly show what they represent and that obtain their function in a similar way to what they signify. For example, a picture is an iconic sign as you can directly see what it is trying to represent.

SYMBOLIC - Usually through associations or words, symbolic signs are where the relationship between the signifier and signified are culturally specific.

The two part model of the sign consists of a signifier and the signified, this relationship between the two is know as ‘signification’.

A Signifier - The form in which a sign takes.

The signified - What concept it represents.