General language

General language

Use this category for general terms related to languages.

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General language

Motivation and constraint

Language; General language

The term 'motivation' (used by Saussure) is sometimes contrasted with 'constraint' in describing the extent to which the signified determines the signifier. The more a signifier is constrained by ...

Narratology (or narrative theory) is a major interdisciplinary field in its own right, and is not necessarily framed within a semiotic perspective. Semiotic narratology is concerned with narrative in ...

Modes of relationship

Language; General language

This is Terence Hawkes's term to refer to Peirce's classification of signs in terms of the degree of arbitrariness in the relation of signifier to signified (to use Saussurean rather than Peircean ...

Multiaccentuality of the sign

Language; General language

This term is used to refer to the diversity of the use and interpretation of texts by different audiences (Volosinov).

Referential function

Language; General language

In Jakobson's model of linguistic communication this is deemed to be one of the key functions of a sign. This function of a sign refers to content.

Referential fallacy

Language; General language

This term has been used to refer to the assumption that a) it is a necessary condition of a sign that the signifier has a referent (in particular, a material object in the world) or b) that the ...