Iconic Signs Research Articles

Documentary Practice as Praxis: A Direct Appeal to the Realization of the Social Act

The essential preoccupation of this paper is documentary practice as (social) praxis, the voice of the photography аs a direct mode of transmission and not only the discovery or mediation of reality. Alan Sekula's photographic discourse is taken as a case study, a practice that directly engages the subject – the position of the worker within the working class, critically representing the reality that is usually masked by spectacle. The hypotheses assume that the methodology of contextualization and discursivization of documentary photography (Untitled Slide Sequence, 1972) leads to a conscious perception of a historical and social reality. Using a cross-methodology of the author's theory and practice, referring to the author's critical point of view, Marxist and post-Marxist theories, this paper indicates that Sekula develops a specific photo-graphology concerned with the directness of expression, the literalness of meaning, and the unmasking of iconic signs captured by capitalist signifiers. The arguments underline that the use of documentary photography as a direct appeal can encourage the realization of a social act. The conclusion implies that the use of the author's voice in the direction of changing the movement of aesthetic production and reception leads to actualization, towards awakening of the passive component – confrontation with social stratification under capitalist order.

"The Dying Gladiator" by M. Yu. Lermontov: aesthetic unity of form and content (to the 210th anniversary of the birth)

The article presents a philological analysis of M. Yu. Lermontov’s poem "The Dying Gladiator". Line-by-line and comparative analysis, as well as the methods of "reference points" and slow reading are used. The study reveals the role of rhythm in expressing the subtext of the work and holding a dialogue with the reader. Rhythmic and verbal-figurative chiasmus is considered as the leading compositional device. It plays the role of an iconic sign recreating the image of the concentric bowl of the Roman Colosseum arena, which, in turn, performs the function of a symbol conveying the idea of the mutual reversibility of the roles of victims and killers. Based on the philological analysis data, the paper refutes the popular opinion about the secondariness and artificial nature of the second part of the poem. In it, just like in the first part, the idea of the destructive influence of passions and violations of the moral imperative on the history of mankind is put forward. The article argues that the artistic harmony image created by the exquisite rhythm and perfect form of the poem is an iconic reference to the Truth and Beauty revealed in Christ and the Moral Law.

An ERP investigation of perceptual vs motoric iconicity in sign production

The type of form-meaning mapping for iconic signs can vary. For perceptually-iconic signs there is a correspondence between visual features of a referent (e.g., the beak of a bird) and the form of the sign (e.g., extended thumb and index finger at the mouth for the American Sign Language (ASL) sign BIRD). For motorically-iconic signs there is a correspondence between how an object is held/manipulated and the form of the sign (e.g., the ASL sign FLUTE depicts how a flute is played). Previous studies have found that iconic signs are retrieved faster in picture-naming tasks, but type of iconicity has not been manipulated. We conducted an ERP study in which deaf signers and a control group of English speakers named pictures that targeted perceptually-iconic, motorically-iconic, or non-iconic ASL signs. For signers (unlike the control group), naming latencies varied by iconicity type: perceptually-iconic < motorically-iconic < non-iconic signs. A reduction in the N400 amplitude was only found for the perceptually-iconic signs, compared to both non-iconic and motorically-iconic signs. No modulations of N400 amplitudes were observed for the control group. We suggest that this pattern of results arises because pictures eliciting perceptually-iconic signs can more effectively prime lexical access due to greater alignment between features of the picture and the semantic and phonological features of the sign. We speculate that naming latencies are facilitated for motorically-iconic signs due to later processes (e.g., faster phonological encoding via cascading activation from semantic features). Overall, the results indicate that type of iconicity plays role in sign production when elicited by picture-naming tasks.

Evolution of Visual Narratives in Fashion Magazines: The Role and Impact of Iconic Signifiers

Design is a phenomenon that has a communicative or functional purpose in the process of transforming images into form by acquiring meaning in the human mind. Fashion magazines are one of the areas in which the visual significance of design is most clearly recognisable. The aim of this study is to identify the visual signs on the covers of fashion magazines and to analyse how these signs convey the meanings they are intended to convey. Also in this direction, the aim is to determine how the signs on the front covers of the French magazines, which is the subject of the study, differ from each other through the signs. The sample group of the study includes a total of 985 front covers covering the fashion magazines Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire and Cosmopolitan from 2000 to 2020. In the research in which the quantitative research method was used, the visual semiotic analysis of the Groupe μ was chosen as the data collection method. Iconic values were used in this analysis to classify the visual elements on magazine covers. A relational survey design was used to analyse the data collected as part of the quantitative research method. A table of iconic signs was created, which form the structure of the visual semiotic analysis of the Groupe μ. In this way, an attempt was made to find out which visual signs were used to transfer the meaning conveyed by the visual messages on the magazine covers to the cover designs. To arrive at the research results, the SPSS package program was used. The research results show that there are significant differences in the visual expression strategies of the various fashion magazines and how each magazine reflects its own unique visual language and brand identity. We believe that this study contributes greatly to our understanding of diversity in the visual design of fashion magazines and its impact on the fashion industry.

Teaching Implication of Meaning Construction at Morphological Level of Affixation in a Complex Indonesian Verb Formation

A tension exists between rationalists and empiricists regarding the nature of knowledge: innate then activated/discovered (rationalists) or constructed then invented (empiricists). The assumption is that, to a certain extent, basic knowledge seems to be innate in our mind and develops through experience by thinking processes to construct meanings. This meaning construction (thinking), mainly using language, is to make sense of and interpret the world. Meanings should be the primary motivation underlying linguistic constructions at all levels. This paper investigates meaning constructions at the lexical level of affixation by focusing on semantic behaviours of verbs in a complex word formation as an attempt: 1) to find out the semantic patterns of verb-based complex word formation, 2) to reveal if there is an iconic relationship of a sign (signifier) and its meaning (signified), and 3) to suggest for its teaching. Using semantic classes of verbs, based on situation types in deriving complex words, this study attempts to find out semantic patterns of such complex word formation and the possibility of revealing its iconicity. Using Antconc software, this study scrutinized linguistic expressions involving related verbs of state, event, and action in a corpus to reveal meaning construction at that level. The findings show several semantic patterns of verb-based complex word formation and an indication of the iconicity of signs. The paper also offers suggestions for teaching affixation

Feeling signs: motor encoding enhances sign language learning in hearing adults.

Manual production enhances learning and recall of signs by hearing second language learners; however, the mechanisms enabling this effect are unclear. We examined whether the motor encoding (somatosensory feedback) that occurs during sign production benefits learning and whether it interacts with sign iconicity, which also enhances learning. American Sign Language (ASL) signs varying in iconicity were learned either via production (repetition) with the eyes closed or via observation without production. Signs learned via production were recalled more accurately than signs learned via observation, indicating that motor encoding from manual production enriches the representations of signs. Moreover, the effect of motor encoding interacted with iconicity, suggesting that motor encoding may particularly enhance the recall of signs low in iconicity. Together, these results reveal the importance of somatosensory feedback as a key mechanism underlying the beneficial effect of production on sign learning, demonstrating that feeling one's own signing promotes learning and recall of signs.

Iconicity and Gesture Jointly Facilitate Learning of Second Language Signs at First Exposure in Hearing Nonsigners

AbstractWhen learning spoken second language (L2), words overlapping in form and meaning with one's native language (L1) help break into the new language. When nonsigning speakers learn a sign language as L2, such overlaps are absent because of the modality differences (L1: speech, L2: sign). In such cases, nonsigning speakers might use iconic form‐meaning mappings in signs or their own gestural experience as gateways into the to‐be‐acquired sign language. In this study, we investigated how both these phenomena may contribute jointly to the acquisition of sign language vocabulary by hearing nonsigners. Participants were presented with three types of signs in the Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT): arbitrary signs, iconic signs with high or low gesture overlap. Signs that were both iconic and highly overlapping with gestures boosted learning most at first exposure, and this effect remained the day after. Findings highlight the influence of modality‐specific attributes supporting the acquisition of a signed lexicon.

Driver Familiarity with Nonverbal Signs of Traffic and its Connection with the Role of Television Programs

The study entitled “Driver Familiarity with Nonverbal Signs of Traffic and its Connection with the Role of Television Programs”. Itis a descriptive study, with using both analytical and survey methods. The main objectives of it is to identify the roles and consequences of television programs on the identification of traffic nonverbal signs among drivers, then to analyze the meanings of traffic icon signs in Kalar district. The sample of the study consists of all traffic signs in Garmian administration, including (26) signs in the main streets of Kalar that were taken through boards sampling, and (506) drivers who have (private and public licenses)formthe both (maleand female)genders in Kalar district who were randomly selected. In conclusion, several scientific results are found such as that each nonverbal traffic in terms of color, shape and content has its own linguistic meaning and direct a specific message for the drivers’ safety in the different areas. The research also shows that the specific traffic television programs have high positive impact in familiarizing drivers with the various content of the traffic signs. it also clarifies that there are some other nonverbal signs that the television programs have paid little attention to introducetheir contentswhich the majority of drivers do not understand the messages behind them.

Пралогическая коммуникация

The paper deals with a pre-logical communication contrasted to verbal interaction founded on logical grounds. The material for the study includes archaic incantations, modern superstitions and poetic texts. The methods of interpretative and intentional analysis have been applied. A pre-logical communication is based on the establishment of relations between objects or events devoid of cause-and-effect relationship in reality. Such conceptualization has been described, explained and terminologically fixed as participation by L. Lévy-Bruhl. It is characteristic of a magic worldview which historically precedes logical reality, but remains up to now in certain types of discourse. Psychologically, such explanation is a biased generalization of accidental connection between things. However, such illogical reality representation has a right to exist as it helps people explain the unexplainable. Semiotically it corresponds to transaction of iconic signs to signals or indices. Three types of pre-logical explanation of events in everyday life have been described in this paper, i.e. diagnostic, prognostic and magical. A pre-logical communication in literary discourse may be understood as a demonstration of universal interconnection of things and events making a whole worldview. This interconnection is based on multiple associations and intertextual allusions. Three types of pre-logical worldview may be singled out as creative, metaphoric and intertextual multiplication of reality. A deliberate usage of pre-logical communication in scientific, pedagogical, legal and political types of discourse may be qualified as a manipulative influence, whereas when used in everyday, advertising, recreational and artistic communication it is determined by the intention to broaden the limits of a routine existence.

Characterizing language production across modalities

ABSTRACT This study investigates factors influencing lexical access in language production across modalities (signed and oral). Data from deaf and hearing signers were reanalyzed (Baus and Costa, 2015, On the temporal dynamics of sign production: An ERP study in Catalan Sign Language (LSC). Brain Research, 1609(1), 40-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2015.03.013; Gimeno-Martínez and Baus, 2022, Iconicity in sign language production: Task matters. Neuropsychologia, 167, 108166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2022.108166) testing the influence of psycholinguistic variables and ERP mean amplitudes on signing and naming latencies. Deaf signers' signing latencies were influenced by sign iconicity in the picture signing task, and by spoken psycholinguistic variables in the word-to-sign translation task. Additionally, ERP amplitudes before response influenced signing but not translation latencies. Hearing signers' latencies, both signing and naming, were influenced by sign iconicity and word frequency, with early ERP amplitudes predicting only naming latencies. These findings highlight general and modality-specific determinants of lexical access in language production.

Means and Functions of Intersemiotics in the Novel Girl with a Pearl Earring by T. Chevalier

The article studies approache to the concept of ‘intersemiotics’ in contemporary literary studies. The author provides its definition and characteristic, defines peculiar features of intersemiotics among other related concepts. The purpose of the study is to identify and analyze means and functions of the category of intersemiotics in the novel Girl with a Pearl Earring by T. Chevalier. The analysis of the novel has shown that the key means for implementing the category of intersemiotics are as follows: ekphrasis, the interaction of different types of iconic signs which creates additional meanings, and lingua‐artistic technique of writing. All of these means are firstly used as one of the author’s tools for embodying the profound meaning of the work, secondly, they contribute to the creation of visual images in the reader’s mind, which, in turn, become the basis for recreating

Neologisms in Polycode Text of Image Advertising: Some Peculiarities of the USE in the Context of Media Sphere

The article considers the problem of neologisms functioning in mass media on the material of image advertising texts. The relevance is determined by the importance of advertising communication as an integral part of modern society, as well as the need to study the peculiarities of compositional structure of polycode texts of image advertising, in particular, correlation of verbal and nonverbal parts of an advertising text involved in the process of influencing an individual to manipulate both the collective behavior and consciousness.Development of globalization processes, availability of Internet and mass media could not but affect the advertising language having transformed it by introducing neologisms which are used in everyday language but not quite familiar to the majority. Newly coined words can be both Russian derivatives and borrowings. The purpose of the research is to study some peculiarities of neologisms usage in polycode texts of image advertising as well as to define a system forming factor in the structure of verbal/nonverbal that influences formation of an advertising objects image in an individual lexicon. The objectives of the study are to consider the notion of image, image advertising and its structural and compositional features along with the analysis of cognitive-psychological influence of images formed by neologisms combined with iconic signs on an individual.The need in reasoned influence on the individual when advertising has led to hybridization of the advertising text which became a complex and integrated textual entity with the integration of verbal and non-verbal elements.The analysis of image advertising language material showed that neologisms when correlating with other verbal and visual/graphic elements develop and/or adapt associative connections and internal images behind the image in an individual lexicon

Semiotics of V. Nabokov’s artistic language in the light of N. Goodman’s theory of symbolization

The article is devoted to the problems of V. Nabokov’s author’s style, considered from the standpoint of semiotics. Russian-language prose created by V. Nabokov during the Berlin period of his life is used as research material: the novels “Mary”, “King, Queen, Knave”, “The Luzhin Defense”, “Glory”, “Camera Obscura”, “Despair”, “Invitation to a Beheading”, “The Gift” and stories from the collection “The Return of Chorb”. The features of the Nabokov’s text verbal sign, as well as the visual and expressive capabilities of the verbal images in the writer’s works are considered. Thanks to the use of N. Goodman’s general theory of symbols and Aage A. Hansen-Löwe’s theory of intermediality as a methodological basis, the possibility of interpreting Nabokov’s poetics as “flickering,” metaphorical, “polycode” opens up. As a “code” of Nabokov’s images, not only verbal signs themselves are considered, but also their translation into signs of other arts that are not directly related to words - painting, cinema, architecture. As a result of the study, the authors come to the conclusion that V. Nabokov’s verbal sign strives for maximum visual expressiveness, taking on some of the properties of the iconic sign. Thanks to the chosen approach, new results were achieved in the study of V. Nabokov’s artistic language.

The contribution of individual parameters to perceived iconicity and transparency in gesture-sign pairs

It is often assumed that gestures are more iconic than signs, as they do not have to conformto a linguistic system. This study introduces an expanded methodology to explore(a) the relative transparency and iconicity of silent gestures and signs, and (b) the iconicityof three individual parameters (handshape, location and movement). We elicitedmeaning guesses and iconicity ratings (both whole-item and for each parameter) fromsign-naive participants for both gestures and signs. Pilot data provide no evidence fordifferences in transparency and iconicity of gestures and signs, butwe do find interestingexamples of signs rated as more iconic than gestures. The iconicity of all three parametersis correlated with the iconicity of the whole item in both gestures and signs, butthere may be a role for iconic strategies and the saliency of individual parameters. Withthis method, we provide a novel, more fine-grained manner of investigating iconicity inthe manual modality.

Przekład intersemiotyczny. Przypadek znaku drogowego, ekfrazy i adaptacji filmowej

&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; The article is an attempt to clarify and refine the ways of understanding two basic types of translation: from one language into another ethnic language (translation proper) – i.e. following the principles of translating homo- geneous systems of signs – and from one system of signs to another, e.g. verbal to iconic, or vice versa, which is sometimes called transmutation. Therefore, the starting point for the discussion is Roman Jakobson’s well-known typology of translation, which also took into account cases of intralingual translation within the same language, called rewording. However, the article mainly focuses on various cases of intersemiotic translation and thus transmutation, meaning situations where a text expressed in one system of signs is translated into a system of a different nature. The primary research question concerns what is actually being translated in such a situation and how this type of translation differs from a typical language-to-language translation. The article is chiefly theoretical, and the examples concern the cases of translating verbal signs into iconic ones, such as the rules governing traffic into a road sign, the translation of an image (a painting, photography) into a literary text (ekphrasis and its varieties), and a film adaptation. The equivalence of codes secures the adequacy of a linguistic translation. In the case of ekphrasis, the image is usually replaced by a verbal narrative, and in a film adaptation, the type and sequence of iconic signs must simply be invented because these sign systems are not directly equivalent, as Benveniste and Lotman believe. Examples that illustrate the main theses of the article are Jacek Kaczmarski’s art-inspired songs, several film adaptations of Shakespeare’s Macbeth (Polański, Kurosawa), and Agnieszka Holland’s film adaptation (Pokot [Spoor]) of one of Olga Tokarczuk’s novels.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

Neural effects differ for learning highly iconic versus non-iconic signs in hearing adults.

Little is known about the neural changes that accompany sign language learning by hearing adults. We used ERPs and a word-sign matching task to assess how learning impacted the N400 priming effect (reduced negativity for translations compared to unrelated trials). English monolinguals (N = 32) learned 100 ASL signs - half highly iconic (meaning was guessable), half non-iconic. In contrast to non-iconic signs, little learning was needed for the highly iconic signs as translation accuracy was similar pre- and post-learning. Prior to learning, an N400 priming effect was observed only for iconic signs. After learning, the size of the priming effect increased for non-iconic signs (replicating word learning studies) but decreased for iconic signs. For deaf ASL signers (N = 20), iconicity did not modulate the size of the N400 priming effect. We conclude that the impact of iconicity on lexico-semantic processing is reduced following learning, as signs are integrated into an emerging visual-manual lexicon.

Analisis Semiotika Puisi “Siapakah Engkau” Karya Heri Isnaini

This research aims to describe the signs that appear in the poem entitled "Who Are You" by Heri Isnaini using a semiotic approach. The research method used is a descriptive qualitative method. The poem "Who Are You" by Heri Isnaini will be observed and then described to find out the meaning that the composer wanted to convey through icons, indexes and symbols so that the meaning can be known clearly by the author. The results of research on the poem "Who Are You" show that there are several signs that appear in the poem, including 4 icon signs, 3 index signs, and 6 symbol signs.

The creativity of cells: aneural irrational cognition.

Evidence of cognition in aneural cells is well-establish in the literature. This paper extends the exploration of the mechanisms of cognition by considering whether or not aneural cells may be capable of irrational cognition, making associations based on coincidental similarities and circumstantial factors. If aneural cells do harness such semiosic qualities, as with higher-level creativity, this might be how they are able to overcome old algorithms and invent tools for new situations. I will look at three examples of irrational learning in aneural systems in terms of semiotics: (1) generalisation in the immune system, based on viral molecular mimicry, whereby immune cells attack the self, which seems to be an overgeneralisation of an icon sign based on mere similarity, not identity, (2) the classical conditioning of pea plants to trope toward wind as a sign of light, which seems to be an association of an index sign based on mere temporal proximity, and (3) a pharmaceutical intervention to prevent pregnancy, using a conjugate to encrypt self with non-self, which seems to be an example of symbol use. We identify irrational cognition easily when it leads to 'wrong' outcomes, but, if it occurs, it may also lead to favourable outcomes and 'creative' solutions.

Food and Drink Mini Short Story by 'Alaa al-Deeb (Semiotic Structural Analysis)|Mini Cerpen ‘Makanan dan Minuman’ karya ‘Alaa al-Deeb (Analisis Struktural Semiotik)

The short story "Food and Drink" by 'Alaa al-Deeb from the short story anthology "المسافرالأبدي" is a mini short story that only contains 338 words. Nevertheless, this short story shows that it also contains the two main elements of literary works, namely regularity of form and beauty of meaning. Therefore, this study aims to reveal the regularity of form and the beauty of meaning of these mini short stories. The researcher used a qualitative method, and to collect data, the researcher used note-taking techniques, as well as content analysis to analyze the data. Furthermore, the researcher used an objective approach with structural theory, and to show the beauty of the meaning of this mini short story, the researcher used a pragmatic approach with semiotic theory. The results of this study show that this mini short story uses theme, story facts (characterization, plot, and setting), and story tools (point of view, ambiance) to form the regularity of the short story form. In addition, this mini short story also displays the beauty of meaning by containing 2 icon signs, 6 index signs, and 2 symbol signs.

Cross-modal iconicity and indexicality in the production of lexical sensory and emotional signs in Finnish Sign Language

Abstract In the present study, cross-modal (i.e., across sensory modalities such as smell and sound) iconicity (i.e., resemblance) and indexicality (i.e., contiguity) in lexical sensory and emotional signs in Finnish Sign Language will be considered from an articulatory perspective (i.e., the production of signs). Such cross-modal iconicity has not been extensively studied previously, so here, with the help of cognitive semiotics, I aim to carefully describe the cross-modal patterns observed across 118 signs, including 60 sensory signs and 58 emotional signs. The analysis is framed within the theoretical model of Semiotic Hierarchy, which entails a non-reductionist view of meaning. In addition, a pheno-methodological triangulation will be applied: phenomenology (first-person method), literature of phenomenological and semiotic descriptions (second-person perspective) and experimental findings (third-person perspective). The results of this analysis show that (a) 71 of the 118 sensory and emotional signs are cross-modally indexical, (b) only 10 of the 71 signs can be regarded as cross-modally iconic, (c) cross-modal iconicity is highly diagrammatic, (d) iconicity and indexicality are highly integrated, and (e) articulatory feedback matters in the formation of semiotic patterns. This study contributes to our understanding of cross-modal iconicity in signed languages, as well as studies in semiotic systems more generally.