Semiotics

Semiotics (pronounced sem-e-ot-ics)

(1) The study of signs and symbols as elements of communicative behaviour; the analysis of systems of communication, as language, gestures, or clothing.

(2) A general theory of signs and symbolism, usually divided into the branches of pragmatics, semantics and syntactics.

(3) Of or relating to signs.

(4) As a (now archaic) specialized use in medicine, the scientific study of the symptoms of disease (known later as symptomatology).

1660s: From the Ancient Greek σημειωτικός (sēmeiōtikós) (fitted for marking, portending), stem of sēmeioûn (to interpret as a sign), from σημειῶ (sēmeiô) (to mark, to interpret as a portend), from σημεῖον (sēmeîon) (a mark, sign, token), from σῆμα (sêma) (mark, sign).  Semiotics is the sense now understood in English was an adaptation by English physician and philosopher John Locke (1632-1704) on the model of Greek logic to mean “the doctrine of signs”.  The medical sense was from the 1660s, the use to describe the study of signs and symbols with special regard to function and origin dates from the 1880s and the use in psychology began in 1923.

The structural model of semiotics.

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols, with special regard to function and origin especially as means of language or communication.  Essentially a branch of the study of meaning-making and meaningful communication including the deconstruction of signs and sign processes, indication, designation, likeness, analogy, allegory, metonymy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication.  Semiotics has evolved to be closely related to linguistics, but can be treated, at least to some point, as a parallel stream.  The semiotic tradition explores the study of signs and symbols as a significant part of communications which can be, but are not of necessity tied to linguistics.  Indeed, semiotics is probably best known for non-linguistic sign systems.  Semiotics became popular with anthropologists who enjoyed the way cultural phenomenon could be studied without any lineal relationship to a specific language.  In a similar vein, zoologists used the method to examine how organisms make predictions about, and adapt to, their semiotic niche in the world.  In general, semiotic theories take signs or sign systems as their object of study including the communication of information in living organisms without structured language in the sense of human text.

Lindsay Lohan in a hotel bathroom, perhaps perplexed by unlabelled taps.

A classic example of semiotics is the convention that red indicates hot water and blue cold but not all manufacturers conform to this standard, some tapware designers apparently offended by the idea of any sort of label making a vulgar intrusion on their carefully crafted shapes.  In the days when Intourist (Интурист in the Russian, a contraction of иностранный турист (foreign tourist); the Soviet Union's notoriously erratic travel agency) enjoyed what was close to a monopoly in the operation of hotels in the USSR, the travel diaries of politicians, journalists and others lucky enough to enjoy a visit would not infrequently comment on the plumbing, taps either not labelled or with labels which would only by apparent coincidence be a reliable guide, faucets which might in the morning have conformed, swapping roles by the evening.

A semiotic convention (left) and examples of variation (right).

It's well understood that Green is for safety (like an exit door) and red for danger (such as a fire).  However, except where stipulated in regulations (which tend to be local rather than national), there's no guarantee the colors used in one place will translate to another and manufacturers' parts lists often include interchangeable components in a variety of colors so users can choose although, where consequences can be both severe and with implications over vast areas (such as sites dealing with nuclear energy), the color-coding and language of signs is done to an international standard.  The reason for danger signs being usually red is likely one of human historical association, red the color of blood and fire so linked with anger and danger.  Plasma physicists point out also that red is the color least scattered by air, water or dust molecules and thus remains visible for longer and at greater distances in adverse environments .  The effect of scattering is inversely related to the fourth power of the wavelength of a given color and because red has the highest wavelength, it gets scattered the least and is thus able to travel the longest distance through fog, rain etc before fading away.  It's the same reason the sky appears blue, the fine particles in the atmosphere scatter blue light most among all the components of white light.

Sometimes though, a color is just a color.  Temporary signs such as those warning of "men at work" or "wet floor" are typically in made in bright (even lurid) colors with the text rendered in a shade with maximum contrast, the object being to attract attention.  Curiously though, manufacturers do offer these in grey and black, perhaps because of the popularity of white and cream as floor colors in commercial spaces.