Sign

From Geography

Sign

The word sign has various meanings. This section is about language as a system of signs.

The traditional linguistics see words as symbols standing in for objects in the world. In this traditional view meaning comes from the connection between the word and the real thing that the word refers to (Gibson-Graham, 2000, p. 95). This view was rejected by Ferdinand de Saussure. This Swiss linguistic is known as the ´father of modern linguistics´. For human geography, not his extensive linguistic work, but his view on representation is relevant. De Saussure argued that words are signs. "Sounds, images, written words, paintings, photographs, etc. function as signs within language only when they serve to express or communicate ideas..." (Hall, 1997, p. 31). The sign consists of two parts: the signifier (the form) and the signified (the idea or concept of the form in our head). These two elements together, and the relation between them, make up representation. Representations, or the meaning of words, are also shaped by cultural and linguistic codes. Meaning is created by social constructs so signs do not possess a fixed or essential meaning.

For example the word "school" in the traditional linguistic view refers to a building where people are educated. In Saussure’s view the word "school" is a sign that consists of both the spoken or written word SCHOOL and the IDEA (or concept) of a building that is different from other buildings like an office or a house because of the culturally encoded practices that take place in and around it like teaching. So the meaning of the word "school" is not pregiven, but is signified in our minds.

References

• Hall, S. (1997). Representation: cultural representations and signifying practices. London: Sage publications.
• Gibson, Graham, J.K. (2000). Poststructural Interventions. Oxford: Blackwell.

Contributors

• page created by --SusanVerbeij 10:43, 10 September 2011 (UTC)
• page extended by Boudewijn Idema, 10 September 2011