semiotici

Semiotics, or semiotica in Italian, is the study of signs and sign processes and how meaning emerges in communication and culture. It considers signs across languages, visuals, and practices, and examines how interpretation is shaped by social context.

Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles Peirce laid foundational frameworks in the field. Saussure treated the sign as a dyadic unit of signifier and signified, with meaning arising from differences within the language system rather than from any natural link to the world. He distinguished langue (the underlying system) from parole (actual speech) and emphasized structural relations among signs.

Peirce offered a triadic model: representamen, object, and interpretant. He classified signs as icons, indexes, or symbols, depending on resemblance, causal connection, or convention. For Peirce, interpretation is an ongoing process that can yield multiple meanings.

In the 20th century, semiotics expanded into cultural and media analysis. Roland Barthes and Umberto Eco used semiotic methods to study advertising, literature, fashion, and popular culture, examining denotation, connotation, and the myths embedded in signs.

Today semiotics is interdisciplinary, informing linguistics, anthropology, media studies, philosophy, and communication. Its methods include sign analysis, code study, and investigations into how power, ideology, and context shape meaning.