Synonyms for signification in Free Thesaurus. Antonyms for signification. 28 synonyms for signification: acceptation, connotation, denotation, import, intent, meaning. ) The act of making known by signs or other means. Early 14c., 'symbolization, representation,' from Old French significacion and directly from Latin significationem (nominative significatio) 'a signifying, indication, expression, sign, token, meaning, emphasis,' noun of action from past participle stem of significare 'make known, indicate' (see signify). (Nattiez 1990, p. 17) Peirce's theory of the sign therefore offered a powerful analysis of the signification system, its codes, and its processes of inference and learning—because the focus was often on natural or cultural context rather than linguistics, which only analyses usage in slow-time whereas human semiotic interaction in the real world often has a chaotic blur of language.

Signs, Signifiers, and Signified

Summary:

Semiotics is concerned with signs and their relationship with objects and meaning. One way to view signs is to consider them composed of a signifier and a signified. Simply put, the signifier is the sound associated with or image of something (e.g., a tree), the signified is the idea or concept of the thing (e.g., the idea of a tree), and the sign is the object that combines the signifier and the signified into a meaningful unit. Stated differently, the sign is the relationsip between the concept and the representation of that concept. For example, when I was a child I had a stuffed animal. OK, it was a stuffed green rat, but it was a smiling rat. That rat was the signifier. Think what a stuffed animal could signify to a child. In my case, it signified safety, warmth, and comfort. So, when I walked into my room and looked at my stuffed green rat it was a sign to me that everything was ok. Notice that the signifier and the signified cannot be separated and still provide a meaningful basis for the sign.

Today, that stuffed green rat is just a memory to me. I cannot even recall what I named it. In fact, as time passed that rat became a sign of something else. The rat is still a signifier but it signifies my early childhood when the world seemed calm, safe, and inviting. Now the rat could be considered a sign of my youthful innocence, long past and hard to remember, just like the name of that rat.

Signification

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Signification Meaning

Barthes, R. (1968). Elements of semiology, A. Lavers & C. Smith (trans.). New York: Hill and Wang.

de Saussure, F. de. (1966). A course in general linguistics. New York: McGraw-Hill.