Social Semiotics

Social semiotics is the study of how we communicate with one another and how people develop an understanding of the world and how they develop relationships based on their understanding. Social semiotics was discovered by Micheal Halliday in 1978. Social semiotics is important because it helps us to better understand how we form power dynamics with others and why.

There are three elements of semiotics, the referent, the interpretant, and the object. These work in a triangle, the semiotic triangle, and they are connected through the symbol, the icon, and the index. The three main elements of the triangle make up the sign. An example of this is being able to hear, and know, that it is raining outside simply by hearing the rain tap on your window. The referent here is the sound of rain on your window, which is linked to the object itself, the rain. However, it is your interpretation that connects the two, completing the triangle and turning this sound into the sign for rain.

The first image we will examine is of a dog. If you were to hear it bark, the referent would be the dog itself barking, making a noise that we interpret to be a dog's bark. These two both connect to the dog itself, the object. The same goes for a stop sign (the second image). If you are driving, you would see the object itself, the stop sign. However, you know to stop because it is red, the referent, and your interperatation of the red color with the STOP written on it is what would make you stop the vehicle itself.

Song of the week: BS by Still Woozy (https://youtu.be/coyQ8oieBSU)