Definition of Linguistic Sign

All perception of reality is based on signs. Language contains the representation of sounds in writing, although this does not make oral and written language unambiguously linked. Various linguists throughout history have been wrong in this regard, since no clear distinction has been made between sound and letter. For this reason it is almost impossible to separate a language from its alphabet, but it is clear that there are many spelling confusion.

In reference to this matter, Pierce points out that sign is any representation that is in place of something else. As an example: the word "horse”Is the written representation of that thing that we know as such (as a four-legged animal with specific characteristics). However the He drew This animal is also the representation of this animal, and in other languages ​​the representation –as Pierce calls the sign– would be “horse” for English; "Cheval" for French; "Cavallo" for Italian; "Pferd" for German; among others.

In this way, the existence of a sign always demands the existence of an interpretant (the one who interprets the sign and gives it meaning), but it is necessary to know some aspect of the object that is It represents. In the case of the example, it is necessary that whoever reads the word, in whatever language, knows those characteristics or values ​​of the object to assign to this sign the meaning of what It represents.

The linguistic sign is, then, one that is directly related to language and is used regularly for communication. It does not refer only to written language, since a system of (linguistic) signs is used for communication between deaf and hard of hearing people, known as sign language.

Language as a system of signs

When we speak of a system, we are talking about a set of elements that are related to each other according to certain rules. In this sense, language is made up of units whose purpose is communication. The presence of the signs that make up the language makes it be seen as a system where all the units are in solidarity and the value of the signs results from the presence of others.

This concept has been superseded by Chomsky's transformational generative grammar, which rejects the structuralist propositions that the linguistics it will be scientific only if language is considered as a system of signs.

In reality, language goes beyond mere consideration as a system, but the condition of linguistic elements is undeniable. that compose it, and especially the concept of sign, with the elements that it entails (representamen, object, interpretant, according to Pierce).

Given that this set of related units makes up language, language can be seen as a system of signs, even when the domain exerted by the structuralism in linguistic studies is exceeded.

Nature of the linguistic sign

Ferdinand de Saussure, in his Course in General Linguistics, develops the idea of ​​the linguistic sign and its nature, although some authors consider that it is not a theory in itself, but the means to explain a theory of him. The concept of "sign", related to the facts of language, can be traced back to the Stoics in the philosophical tradition. But it corresponds to Saussure the breakdown of the theory of the sign and its disconnection with the linguistic tradition.

Aristotle assigned a conventional character linguistic sign in his relation of language and thought. Oral and written language are not natural, and there is a social convention that links these sounds and signs to "things of the soul" (thought); But these sounds are not the same for everyone, because we don't all speak the same languages. Although the objects or thoughts they represent are the same.

In the General Linguistics Course, however, it is determined that linguistic units have a duality, made with the union of two terms. These are the signifier and the signified, one being the psychic representation (through the linguistic sign, signifier) ​​and the other the material thing (what is represented, signified). For this understanding mechanism to work correctly, there must also be an interpreter (the one who receives the information, the one who reads), who gives it meaning.

An example, perhaps simplistic, is reading a book. As long as the book remains closed, it constitutes nothing more than a mixture of characters that do not make sense. When it is opened by a reader, who interprets the signs reflected there and gives them a logical sense according to their meaning, then ideas arise and the book makes sense.

On the nature of the linguistic sign, there are two principles enunciated by Saussure: arbitrariness and linearity.

The linguistic sign is arbitrary insofar as a sign is understood as the result of the association of a signifier with a signified. This does not refer in any way to the free choice of the speaker, but there are social conventions, established by a linguistic group and a tradition, that give meaning to the sign. For example, the speakers of a language already know the meanings given prior to its sign system.

The linguistic sign is linear, since the signifier is auditory in nature and unfolds in time, it is a line.

Furthermore, the linguistic sign is immutable, since it is imposed on the community that uses it. Even if it wanted to, a mass of people could not exercise their sovereignty over a word: we are tied to the language as it is.

Disciplines and study of the linguistic sign

Of the disciplines that are responsible for the study of the language, the first was philology, although this includes issues that go beyond the use and structure of language as a system of signs, but also deals with history and criticism, especially focused on the literature.

Grammar does focus on language, its structure and characteristics, and is subdivided into various disciplines. But with respect to the sign, the most important are phonology and semiology.

Phonology is responsible for description theory of the sounds that make up a language (phonemes). Since the linguistic sign is the representation of the spoken language, the separation of the spelling and the sounds would not give more than a very vague idea of ​​what it is intended to represent.

Semiology is defined by Saussure as the general science of all sign systems that promote communication; While the semiotics it is understood as the almost necessary and formal doctrine of signs (Peirce). Essentially, if it is intended to make a differentiation of these, Saussure ponders the human and social character of the doctrine, being for him called "semiology"; while Charles S. Peirce gives more weight to the logical and formal character

References

Aristotle: On interpretation in Treatises of logic.

Cobley, Paul: Semiotics for Beginners.

Medina, Pepa: The linguistic sign and the theory of value.

Saussure, Ferdinand de: General Linguistics Course.

Topics in Linguistic Sign