Semiotics by Ferdinand de Saussure | Semiotics Theory | Saussure Semiotics Theory | Semiology

0𝗔 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗰 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝘂𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀

Language is a system of signs that expresses ideas and is therefore comparable to a system of writing, the alphabet of deaf-mutes, symbolic rites, polite formulas, military signals, etc. But it is the most important of these systems.'

A science that studies the life of signs within society is conceivable; it would be part of social psychology and consequently of general psychology; I shall call it semiology (from Greek sēmeîon “sign”). Semiology would show what constitutes a sign, what laws govern them.

For Saussure, signs have two parts.
1) A sound image or signifier
2) A concept or signified produced by the signifier.

It is crucially important to understand that the relation between the signifier and signified is not natural but arbitrary and based on convention.

Concepts, he explained, are defined differentially; that is, in terms of what they aren’t. He explained that it is the relative position of signs in a statement that determines their meaning, not their intrinsic value. No sign, then, has meaning by itself, and its meaning is always a function of its relationship with other signs.

What this means is that when we are dealing with concepts, because of the nature of the language we tend to think in terms of polar oppositions such as cheap and expensive, rich and poor, happy and sad. Words are signs, and the meaning of a word depends upon the context in which it is found.

Saussure explained why the mind tends to function in terms of contrasts and oppositions when he wrote that concepts are purely differential. What Saussure argues is that we only know what a concept means by knowing what it doesn’t mean, and more particularly, by knowing its opposite. It is because of the nature of language.

These oppositions must be related or tied to something they have in common; for example, sexual orientation (gay or straight) or wealth (rich and poor).

00:00 - Introduction
01:49 - Major Contributions
02:37 - Signifer & Signified
06:10 - Semiotic Theory by Saussure
17:37 - End Note

Видео Semiotics by Ferdinand de Saussure | Semiotics Theory | Saussure Semiotics Theory | Semiology канала Usama Tahir