Understanding Semiotics and Semiology : Science of Signs
Dear steemians,
Today I would like to write about something that has interested me to elaborate for one semester when I was studying at university. It is about Semiotics and Semiology. Actually, this topic is not what I learnt in my university because I studied at English language Education. But, I lived with my friend who studied in Communication Science Faculty, and Semiotics and Semiology is the topic of his research. So that, I often read his books and it was really interested me to understand about it because it is also a part of Linguitics.
Understanding the terms Semiotics and Semiology
Which term you prefer, semiotics or semiology?. Both terms refer to the field of study that studies the purpose or meaning of a sign or symbol. basically these two terms show the same science, but both are used in different places. Semiology is usually used in books published in france to refer to the writings of Roland Barthes. But, the term Semiotics is used in refer to the writings of Charles Sanders Peirce and Charles Morris.
Therefore, semiotics and semiology contain precisely the same meaning, although the use of either of these two terms usually indicates the thought of the scholar. Those who tend to Peirce use the term Semiotics, and those who tend to Ferdinand Saussure use the term Semiology. Today, however, the term Semiotics is more popular than Semiology.
Both semiotics and semiology basically have the same meaning, which refers to the science of signs. Even scholars do not want to distinguish these two terms; they consider as the same science. According to Hawkes (in Sobur, 2001), one of the differences of the two terms is that the term semiology is commonly used in Europe, while the term semiotics tends to be used by those who use English, especially first popular in the United States.
In Saussure's definition, Semiology is a science that examines the life of signs in society, thus becoming part of the discipline of social psychology. The aim is to show how the formation of the sign in the community. While the definition of Semiotics according to Sander refers to the formal doctrine of signs. The basic thing of semiotics is the concept of sign; not just the language and communication system composed of signs, but also the world itself which also consists of signs that need to be understood by the human mind.
Human is homo Semioticus (van Zoest, 1993)
In conclusion, Semiotics or Semiology is a science or method of analysis to examine signs. signs are the devices we use to find our way in this world, in the midst of humans and with humans. Semiotics or Semiology basically want to learn how humanity signify things. To signify means that the objects not only carry information, in which the object must communicate, but also constitute a structured system of signs (Barthes, 1988).
References
Barthes, R. (1988). The semiotic challenge. New York: Hill and Wang.
Sobur, A. (2013). Semiotika komunikasi. Bandung: Rosdakarya.
Regards,
ALFYD
