The study of signs, systems of signs and the social production of signs. It is also known as semiology. Based on the arbitrary nature of communication systems, semiotics examines how signs are organised in distinct codes. According to charles sanders pierce (considered one of the founders of semiotics, along with linguist ferdinand de saussure), a sign (or "representamen") can stand for something (an "object") because there is an "interpretant" that mediates between them. Semiotics has three primary branches: syntax, or the transformation of linguistic items; semantics, or the relationships between signs and symbols in respect to meaning; and pragmatics, or the study of context in interpretation.