Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of signs. A sign in terms of semiotics is something that stands for something else (an object).

The picture on the right is how the theorist Charles Sanders Pierce thought the process of signs worked. Pierce also thought that there were many different types of sign, these would include

Index's are directly connected to the object it is signifying, Icons resemble the thing signified in some relevance, and symbols signify something it has no logical relation to.

Another theorist in semiotics would be Ferdinand de Saussure. Saussure believed that signs are purely psychological and that "a sign refers to something it is not"

Saussure came up with a theory like Piece did, his theory was that a sign is made up of two things, the signified (which is the actual object) and the signifier (which is what it means) together these would apparently make up what a sign is.