Signs: An Introduction to Semiotics / Edition 2

by Thomas A. Sebeok

Overview

The interpretive science of semiotics offers powerful analytical tools for the application of many disciplines to the study of perception. Semiotics is the study of signs, and as such, is of relevance to a wide spectrum of scholars and professionals, including social scientists, psychologists, artists, graphic designers, and students of literature. Semiosis – the production and interpretation of linguistic and visual signs – is innate to human beings of all societies. From the simplest of hand gestures to the most complex diagrams and charts, the sign is key to the communication of ideas. Thomas A. Sebeok examines, in an engaging, readable style, how the sign mediates between bodily experience and abstract thought.

This updated second edition of Signs combines some of Sebeok's most important essays with a new general introduction, introductory passages at the outset of each chapter, a glossary, and brief biographies of the major semioticians. From an overview of the discipline to a more detailed exploration of sign categories, the author powerfully demonstrates the co-dependency of verbal and non-verbal communication.

Aimed primarily at undergraduate and graduate students, this engaging book also has plenty to offer any general reader who is interested in exploring and analyzing the complex sign systems we so often take for granted.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802084729
Publisher:	University of Toronto Press
Publication date:	12/22/2001
Series:	Toronto Studies in Semiotics and Communication
Edition description:	Second
Pages:	210
Sales rank:	446,096
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

Thomas A. Sebeok is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Linguistics and Semiotics at Indiana University. He has written numerous articles and books, and is world-renowned as an authority on semiotics.

Table of Contents

	Preface to the Second Edition	ix
	Foreword: Thomas A. Sebeok and Semiotics	xi
1	Basic Notions	3
	The Object of Semiotics	4
	Defining the Sign	5
	Structural Properties	6
	Semiosis and Representation	8
	Types of Signs	8
	Nonverbal Communication	11
2	The Study of Signs	25
	A Biological Approach to the Study of Signs	27
	Messages	31
	The Sign	32
	Signs and 'Reality'	36
3	Six Species of Signs	39
	General Features of Signs	39
	Six Species of Signs	42
	Signal	44
	Symptom	46
	Icon	50
	Index	53
	Symbol	55
	Name	59
	On the Being, Behaving, and Becoming of Signs	61
4	Symptom Signs	65
	The Meaning of Symptom	66
	The Peircean View	70
	Symptoms and the Medical Origins of Semiotics	72
	Interpreting Symptoms	76
5	Indexical Signs	83
	Indexicality	84
	Features of Indexicality	87
	Manifestations of Indexicality	92
	The Study of Indexicality	96
6	Iconic Signs	103
	Iconicity	103
	The Incidence of Iconicity	105
	Features of Iconicity	107
	The Study of Iconicity	110
7	Fetish Signs	115
	The Origin of Fetishism as 'Deviation'	116
	The Fetish in Psychology and Sexology	117
	The Fetish in Semiotics	123
8	Language Signs	127
	The Study of the Verbal Sign	128
	Verbal and Nonverbal Signing	135
9	Language as a Primary Modelling System?	139
	Modelling System	140
	Uexkull's Model Revisited	143
	Language as a Modelling System	146
	Concluding Remarks	148
	Glossary	151
	Bibliography	159
	Index	187

Editorial Reviews

A synthesis of Sebeok's thought on the "elemental" features of semiosis (the scientific study of signs), gathering together some of his most important essays dealing with the fundamental issues of contemporary semiotics. These essays are reworked into a cohesive textbook for use by semioticians, students of semiotics and communication theory, cognitive scientists, philosophers, and general readers Paper edition (unseen), $14.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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