Classification of signs

Classification of signs
Classification of signs Ole Togeby Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Does a picture say more than 1000 words?
Classification of signs Does a picture say more than 1000 words? Although reports from several commissions had documented torture of Iraqis in American prisons, nothing happened - until this and other amateur photos from the prison went around the world and changed the situation. The pictures caused a change in attitudes in the American public towards the war. Why did it happen like that? Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison He had wires put on his fingers and had been told that if he lowered his arms or stepped down from the box, he would receive electric shocks through wires. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Definition of a sign A (communicative) sign is someone designing a material in a remarkable form to indicate the same for many about something different from itself. A painting is an effective communi-cative sign A verbal text is an effective communicative sign Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Definition of a sign A (communicative) sign is someone designing a material in a remarkable form to indicate the same for many about something different from itself. Although we use the word sign when they say that dark clouds are signs of stormy weather, dark clouds are not communicative signs But it is what Peirce calls an index sign. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Peirce’s signs A (communicative) sign is someone designing a material in a remarkable form to indicate the same for many about something different from itself. Please note that this is not the same concept of sign as some may know from the Peircian definition: A sign (representamen) is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Peirce’s tegn Peircian indexes are not communicative signs Peirce makes a distinction between icons, symbols and indexes An icon (also called likeness and semblance) is a sign that denotes its object by virtue of a quality which is shared by them but which the icon has irrespectively of the object. What I will call a picture or image A symbol is a sign that denotes its object solely by virtue of the fact that it will be interpreted to do so. What I will call (verbal) text or (symbolic) sign An index is a sign that denotes its object by virtue of an actual connection involving them, one that he also calls a real relation in virtue of its being irrespective of interpretation. What I will call indication, evidence, symptom, marks, tracks, trails, traces, clues Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

The concept of sign Although the language allows us to say: dark clouds are signs of stormy weather, dark clouds are not an instance of a communicative sign; the clouds don’t have the function of signaling stormy weather. Smoke from a chimney is an index, but not a sign of the way the wind blows. However, a weather-cock is a sign of the way the wind blows, because it is designed to indicate wind direction; it has the function indicate. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Talking about signs Sun rise The earth spins around its own axis, and our country is coming out of the shadow The picture represents (depicts) Tordenskjold The painter represents by his painting Tordenskjold as a young hero "Tordenskjold, han var polisk" means 'Peter Wessel was sly’ The poet indicates by his verse that Tordenskjold be regarded as sly I Østen stiger solen op, siger vi; imidlertid ved vi godt at det ikke er solen der stiger op, men jorden der drejer rundt om sin egen akse. Den sproglige sætning forudsætter altså et verdensbillede som vi ved er forkert, og alligevel kan vi ikke omtale det vi ser, på anden måde end sådan som vi oplever det: solen stiger op. Måske er det ligeså forkert når vi siger at billedet forestiller Tordenskjold, eller at “Tordenskjold han var polisk” betyder at ‘Peter Wessel var underfundig’: det er måske snarere sådan at maleren med billedet angiver hvordan Tordenskjold skal opfattes, og at digteren med verselinjen angiver at Tordenskjold skal opfattes som underfundig. Måden vi taler om tingene på, røber i hvilket perspektiv vi oplever dem, og hvilken plads de udfylder i vores verdensbillede. Men måske vil en nærmere undersøgelse vise at tegnene slet ikke er sådan som vi taler om den. Det er det dette kapitel handler om. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

The picture represents the motif and depicts the real thing
Classification of signs The picture represents the motif and depicts the real thing The phrase a picture of a white horse can mean two things: 1 .'a white-horse-picture', -- about the motif. 2. ’a depiction of the white horse that the king rode in 1920' – about the real object. Billedet af Christian X der rider over grænsen til Sønderjylland på en hvid hest, er et ‘hvid heste-billede’; nu siges det at den hest kongen red på, som hed Malgré Tout, slet ikke var hvid, men at den var kalket hvid til lejligheden (prins Knud fik nemlig kalk på bukserne af at røre ved den), således at det måske egentlig er ‘et billede af en brun hest’; altså ‘et hvid hest-billede af en brun hest’. Sandheden om hesten på billedet, Malgré Tout, som betyder ‘trods alt’, er at den var hvid, den var nemlig albino, men at den også var kalket for at den ikke skulle se for lyserød ud (Thyssen 2007). Billedet er altså når alt kommer til alt, faktisk et hvid heste-billede af en trods alt hvid hest. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

How wide is a sign? A sign designates, means, has a function; a sign, as opposed to a non-sign is a carrier of meaning. (...) Such units as periods, sentences, clauses, and words appear to meet the condition: they are carriers of a meaning, and consequently signs ... When the analysis is carried out, it is found that the Danish word for-sam-l-ing-er-ne-s consists of 7 individually significant units, and therefore 7 signs . Louis Hjelmslev (1943) 1966: Omkring Sprogteoriens grundlæggelse, København: Akademisk Forlag, side 40 Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

How wide is a sign? A sign designates, means, has a function; a sign, as opposed to a non-sign is a carrier of meaning. (...) Such units as periods, sentences, clauses, and words appear to meet the condition: they are carriers of a meaning, and consequently signs ... When the analysis is carried out, it is found that the Danish word for-sam-l-ing-er-ne-s consists of 7 individually significant units, and therefore 7 Here in this ppt, the word sign is only used about an expressed sentence that can be used as a communicative act (speech act). Subordinate clauses, phrases, words, morphemes, and letters are not signs but elements of signs or elements of elements of signs. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

How wide is a sign? Here, the word sign is only used about an expressed sentence that can be used as a communicative act (speech act). Subordinate clauses, phrases, words, morphemes, and letters are not signs but elements of signs and elements of elements of signs. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Examples A painting of Tordenskiold, A signpost at the road A weathercock, = 52 et watch showintg 13:52 An oral utterance: [Klokken er kvart i to, a handshake The song Jeg vil sjunge om en helt. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Criteria for signhood A (communicative) sign is someone designing a material in a remarkable form to indicate the same for many about something different from itself. A significant form of a specific material about something different from itself which indicates the same for several people Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Criteria for signhood A (communicative) sign is someone designing a material in a remarkable form to indicate the same for many about something different from itself. A significant form of a specific material Without differences that make a difference, no sign about something different from itself which indicates the same for several people Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Criteria for signhood A (communicative) sign is someone designing a material in a remarkable form to indicate the same for many about something different from itself. Et bemærkelsesværdigt formgivet materiale Uden form, intet tegn about something different from itself A sign is delimited by a frame from non- sign areas in the background og angiver det samme for flere Med tegn deler vi tanker med hinanden Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Criteria for signhood A (communicative) sign is someone designing a material in a remarkable form to indicate the same for many about something different from itself. Et bemærkelsesværdigt formgivet materiale Uden form, intet tegn about something different from itself og angiver de A sign is not an illusion og angiver det samme for flere Med tegn deler vi tanker med hinanden Hey, Johnny, let os fly wildly rapidly, and give that guy af real shock. That would be great fun. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Criteria for signhood A (communicative) sign is someone designing a material in a remarkable form to indicate the same for many about something different from itself. Et bemærkelsesværdigt formgivet materiale Uden form, intet tegn der er om noget andet end sig selv Et tegn er ikke en illusion which indicates the same for several people With signs we share our thoughts with each other Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Criteria for signhood A (communicative) sign is someone designing a material in a remarkable form to indicate the same for many about something different from itself. A significant form of a specific material Without differences, no sign about something different from itself A sign is delimited by a frame from non- sign areas in the background A sign is not an illusion which indicates the same for several people With signs we share our thoughts with each other Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Fully interlocking Signhood is that many impose social functions to significant forms, e.g. that a cross on a ballot paper counts as a vote for a person. The persons elected for the parliament nominate persons for the government; the government authorize civil servants, who can issue birth certificates to persons who when they are 18 can vote for the parliament … So the imposition of function hang together in a fully interlocking jigsaw puzzle. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Signs and non-signs Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Mental semiotic processes
Classification of signs Mental semiotic processes In addition to the material form, three mental processes together constitute the necessary steps of the sign user's understanding of a sign: A. Perception of the significant forms (mono-sensory, phylogenetic and unconscious, Gestalt. B. Recognition of the differences that make a difference, cross-sensory, ontogentic, phenomenological conceptua- lization and categorization of objects and situations. C. Interpretation (understanding) and possible acceptance of the relevance and truth of the information in the interaction. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Perception, recognition and interpretation
Classification of signs Perception, recognition and interpretation A traffic sign (triangel) is perceived upside down, recognized as a triangel, and interpreted as a warning sign Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Perception involves a Gestalt with figure and ground
Classification of signs Perception involves a Gestalt with figure and ground Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Recognition involves seeing something as something
Classification of signs Recognition involves seeing something as something Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Interpretation involves judging reality and relevance of the topic
Classification of signs Interpretation involves judging reality and relevance of the topic Cognition of a sign implies 1) perception of it 2) recognition of it as a sign about smoking 3) that you understand that it is not a real traffic sign, and that it nevertheless is a sincere ban of smoking relevant here and now. Paradoxes has neither reality value nor any relevance for the interpreter. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Act and representation
Classification of signs Act and representation Interpretation (understanding) of a sign is 1. a communicative act in the social setting 2. a mental representation of the situation represented The sign establishes a relation between the two situations Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Meaning as mental representation
Classification of signs Meaning as mental representation The relation between and the represented situation is a relation of truth and relevance Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Meaning as layers of an act
Classification of signs Meaning as layers of an act You perform a perlocutionary act by performing a illocutionary act by performing a propositional act by performing a representational act Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

A model of a sign A material form A sign producer Sign interpreters Acts of understanding (content, meaning, signifié): perception, recognition, interpretation The object, All the acts of under-standing has to be the same en materiel form (tegnudtrykket, en signifikator, repræsentamen, signifiant, eller i almindelig sprogbrug: tegnet), dvs. noget manifest og offentligt der af nogen er udformet mærkværdigt, og af flere får tillagt omhed, nemlig: a. noget lyd (i tid), fx en klokke der ringer; b. en ting i rum, fx et maleri, et fotografi, en matematisk formel på et papir, et skilt på vejen, en vejrhane, termometerstanden på et termometer, viserstillingen på et ur; eller c. en handling over tid, fx det at ytre en mundtlig replik i en samtale, eller det at skrive et brev; ii) en tegngiver, den ene af de to mennesker for hvem signalet angiver det samme, den som har produceret og udformet formen, og iii) tegntolkere som opfatter (sanser, tyder og tolker) formen, iv) opfattelser hos tegnbrugerne (indholdet, meningen, signifié, . interpretanten), nemlig de akter hvormed tegnbrugerne tyder og tolker tegnene og erkender, genkender, og begriber de fælles (samme) tanker, akter som kan inddeles i: a. sansning og b. genkendelse (tydning) c. forståelse (tolkning, inferens) v) genstanden, det i verden der afbildes, betegnes eller henvises til (referencen, originalen, den der sidder model for maleren, objektet som fotograferes, landskabet som males, begivenheden der berettes om, fænomenet der beskrives), fx Peter Wessel, de børn der somme tider leger på vejen, eller tidspunktet kl. 13:35 en given dag. Man kan godt have en ydre form (med tillagt omhed) og en tilsvarende tydning og tolkning uden nogen genstand, fx billedet af en kentaur, og myten om Ragnarok (i Snorres Edda). Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

The meaning of the word same
Classification of signs The meaning of the word same a) conceptual meaning: ‘x is of the type (sort, kind) that y belongs to’, ‘equivalent’, ‘similar’, ‘not distinct from’ fx We all have the same faith as the vicar, a1) categorial meaning: ‘have category in common’, ‘which does not count as anything but …’, ‘equivalent with’, about objects: the same letter, the same car, a2) qualitative meaning: ‘with common qualities’, ‘which resembles’, ‘similar to’, ‘alike’, ‘common characteristics’, same used as an adjektiv to a property: the same size, the same colour, the brothers had the same nose. b) perceptual meaning: ‘with common identity’, ‘exactly that specimen’, ‘(numerical) identical with’, ‘which is not any other than’, e.g.: We are all in the same boat, c) temporal meaning: ‘unchanged’, e.g.: fx You can not step into the same river twice In the definition of the concept of sign indicate the same for many the word same has conceptual meaning, categorial about texts and qualitative about pictures. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Criteria for the classification of signs
Criteria for the classification of signs There are many criteria for the classification of signs: material articulation, convention, predicational power, compositionality Deictic power, doubble articulation Count-as-rules Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Material Some signs are objects in space, e.g. paintings and other signs are courses of events in time, e.g. oral utterances Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Articulation Some signs are continuous; other signs are articulated, ie. divided into links. Specific sign types are math and pantomime An articulate sign consists of a one-dimensional chain divided into dis-crete, recognizable elements chosen from a code of sign elements. Articulated signs are articulated both horizontally in the chain and vertically in the code. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Analogy and convention continuity and articulation
Classification of signs Analogy and convention continuity and articulation Some signs indicate by analogy. Other signs indicate by convention Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Analogy and convention continuity and articulation
Classification of signs Analogy and convention continuity and articulation The classification by analogy and convention is the same as by continuity and articulation Some signs indicate by analogy. Other signs indicate by convention Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Complex signs Objects in space and courses in time are not mutually exclusive, there are signs that are both an object in space and a course in time, namely for example a written text and a measuring instrument as a watch Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Mixed signs Pictogram The oppossition between the indication by analogy and by the convention is scalar, with many mixed forms, such as pictograms and diagrams. diagram Stylizing, simplification, typification Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Nine types of signs Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Doubble articulation Math and verbal texts are articulated in sign elements chosen from an inventory of possible elements: But only in the verbal text the sign elements are themselves articulated in elements of sign elements Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Homonymy og polysemy Double articulation means that sign elements (words and morphemes) can be both synonymous, polysemous and homonymous. synonymy is that two sign elements (words, morphems) has the same sense E.g. the words udsagnsord and verbum, bange and angst, bede and anmode. Homonymy is the case that two different morphemes are expressed by the same sequence of elements of sign elements (letters) e.g. homophones with identical phonemes: vejr-hver-vær homographs are spelled alike: al, syren and korset homonymes: søm, bed, ler, hede. Polysemy is the case that the same morphemes can have different meanings in different contexts, fx højt tårn, højt skrig, det høje C, høje omkostninger, høje idealer, højglans og i 1897, i København, i tre uger, i vrede, i koppen. Only signs with double articulation have homonymy and polysemy In mathematics there are no homonymy or polysemy Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Doubble articulated signs = verbal signs
Classification of signs Doubble articulated signs = verbal signs Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Doubble articulated signs = verbal signs
Classification of signs Doubble articulated signs = verbal signs Chinese characters are just as mathematics single articulated. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Deixis Deictic elements are sign elements that refer to and distinguish between the communicative situation EGO-HERE-NOW and the represented situation NOT-US --- NOT- HERE --- NOT-NOW, Statements with deictic elements can refer to themselves Don’t read what is written in this box! This sentence claims to be a Epimenides paradox, but is not true. This sentence contradicts itself – or rather – no, in fact it dosn’t. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Deixis Verbal language has full deixis; it can refer to both proximal and distal things. The dentist to the patient: It will not hurt to pull out the tooth – now – did it? Pictograms (road signs) have only half (proximal) deixis and indicate what is here and now (for the recipient); they can not indicate NOT-US - NOT HERE, NOT NOW Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Regulatory and constitutive rules
Classification of signs Regulatory and constitutive rules Conventions are common standards and rules for people in a community, but there are two different types of rules: regulatory rules and constitutive rules. Regulatory rules are conventions for how the community should carry out acts that exist independently of the rule. Rules for table manners are typical regulatory rules. Putting food into the mouth is an action existing prior to the rule of having the knife in right hand and fork in the left; it is simply a regulation of it. There is also constitutive rules that do not regulate existing actions, but in the interaction between people create new types of action not existing independently of the rule. The rules of games like chess or football are typical examples of constitutive rules. The rule which says moving the ball over the goal line between the goalposts counts as a goal in soccer, creates a social event called a 'goal' which does not exist outside the game. Such rules which creates new facts, always have the following form: X counts as Y in C Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

X counts as Y in C X counts as Y in C X is the sign, ie. a material form; Y is the fact created by issuing the sign in the situation C, and C is a context situation of a particular type. Examples: touching the ball with your hand (X) counts as a free kick (Y) in soccer (C), or: threatening the opponent's king not being able to move to a square where it is not threatened (X) counts as checkmate (Y) in check (C). Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

More-or-less-meaning either-or-meaning
Classification of signs More-or-less-meaning either-or-meaning X counts as Y in C A painting of Tordenskjold is an analog sign indicating that the he should be seen as X, taking into account certain regulatory rules about how to make images look resemble, conventions that can be seen in the history of art; ideal of how images should look like, change over time. No constitutive rules in the painting of Tordeskjold, Even in the most realistic picture there are certain conventional features, and any conventional sign has analog aspects, such as the font and and size. There is therefore both-and-meaning more-or-less-meaning. A conventional sign requires constitutive rules. You only understand the meaning of the sign if you know and accept that the letters (X) counts as the corresponding phonemes (Y) and that the series of phonemes (X) counts as morphemes (Y) and that combination of morphemes (X) counts as a warning and a justification of the importance 'drive carefully' 'children can play on the road' (Y) The result of using constitutive rules could be called: symbolic sings. The strips of tape on the wood plate placed by the road, count as a warning that children can play at that place and that the driver must drive carefully. Verbal Language involve constitutive rules where X counts as Y in C. These are either-or-meaning Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Count-as-rules X counts as Y in C Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Visual or auditory Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Predicational power A speech act is composed of an action indicator (A) and a proposition […], which is composed of a reference (R) and a predicate (P): A[(S) P] I promise that I will come tomorrow A [ (R) P ] Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Predicational power Referents can have different forms and meanings Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Verbal signs Conventional act indicator (A) wtih a conventional proposition about a deicticly definite referent (R) Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Image signs You can not see from the picture that it is Tordenskjold, only that it might resemble him. If it is told in a text that it is Tordenskjold, the picture indicates how to see (understand) him. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Diagrams A diagram is an analog statement, semantically rich and to grasp in a glance about something that is referred to by conventional and articulated elements. Diagrams have both syntax and semantics, but they can not function as independent comminicative acts, because they have no pragmatics. Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Pictograms Pictograms are autonomous communicative acts (resp. orders, injunctions and prohibitions). Pictograms have only half deixis and can not separate the communication setting from the represented situation and connot refer to NON-US - NOT HERE - NOT NOW Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Predicational power of the types of signs
Classification of signs Predicational power of the types of signs Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Classification of signs Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Diagrams Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

More-or-less-meaning and either-or-truth
Classification of signs More-or-less-meaning and either-or-truth Considerable price increase insignificant price increase Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Degrees of conventionality of pictograms
Classification of signs Degrees of conventionality of pictograms Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Pictogrammmatical syntax
Classification of signs Pictogrammmatical syntax Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Pictogram inventory Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Combination of picture and text
Classification of signs Combination of picture and text What is the motif of this picture. What does it indicate? What is the message? Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

What is the motif of this picture. What does it indicate? What is the message? Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Afghan woman and her daughter look at a demonstration in Kabul in Afghanistan. Later the police fired into the crowd, killing four people Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Kombination af billede og tekst
Classification of signs Kombination af billede og tekst In this example, text and image are sabotaging each other, and probably the image will win. The interpreter will remember the message of the picture, but not the message of the text Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

Literature Litteraturliste Dretske, Fred 1995: Naturalizing the Mind, Cambridge Mass.: MIT Press. Gombrich, E.H (1977) 2002: Art & Illusion. A study in the psychology of pictoral representation, London: Phaidon Press Ltd. Goodman Nelson 1976: Languages of Art, Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company Habermas, Jürgen 1971: “Forberedende bemærkninger til en teori om den kommunikative kompetens”, oversat af Peter Widell og Niels Hornborg Jensen, i Henriksen, Carol (red) 2001: Can you reach the salt?, København: Roskilde Universitetsforlag Peirce, Ch.S. (1994): Semiotik og pragmatisme, på dansk ved Lars Andersen, udg. af Anne Marie Dinesen og Frederik Stjernfelt, København: Samlerens Bogklub Togeby, Ole, 1975: RO, Mål & Mæle 2. årg. nr. 3, Kbh.: Sigvaldis forlag Togeby, Ole 2001: "Den sproglige beskrivelse af fiktion og tekstart" i Heltoft, Lars og Carol Henriksen (red) 2001: Den analytiske Gejst. Festskrift til Uwe Geist på 60_årsdagen 23. september 2001, Roskilde: Roskilde Universitetsforlag, side 233_246. Togeby, Ole 2003: Fungerer denne sætning? Funktionel dansk sproglære, København: Gad. Togeby, Ole 2005: “Ole tegner og fortæller. Om den semiotiske forskel på billeder og tekst” i Tidsskrift for Sprogforskning Årg. 3 nr. 1, Århus: Statsbiblioteket, side Togeby, Ole 2005: “Dette er (ikke) en pibe - billedtekster og tekstbilleder” i Widell, Peter og Mette Kunøe 2005: 10. møde om Udforskningen af Dansk Sprog. Aarhus Universitet oktober 2004, Århus: Aarhus Universitet, side Watzlawick, Paul, Janet Helmick Beavin and Don D. Jackson 1968: Pragmatics of Human Communication. A Study of Interactional Patterns, Pathologies and Paradoxes, London: Faber and Faber. Wille, Niels Erik 2007: Fra tegn til tekst. En indføring i teorier om sproglig kommunikation København: Samfundslitteratur Ole Togeby: Classification of signs

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