CHAPTER I-V - Digilib UIN Malang

thing but different with the reality and has single meaning, as an example; traffic
light (red=stop, yellow=careful, green=go a head). Third, is Icon, a thing represent
another thing but it is the same with the real (similar to the reality), for example;
two dimensions (picture), three dimensions (miniature). Finally, is Symbol, a thing
that represents another thing which is including (icon, sign, and code).
Moreover, Saussure investigates language as a structured system of sign 5 . He
explains that there is a system of sign, well-known as Signified and Signifier. A
signifier is the linguistics value of a word (representation of sound), and a
signified is property of studying for a concept (representation of letters). So, the
word sign in this study is not a sign as anything that stands for anything else, but
only a board or notice used for warning and directing somebody toward
something.
Directional and warning signs need to be analyzed using explicature
because not all the readers really understand the message in short written texts or
utterances used in directional and warning signs.
As an example, in front of my faculty once happened some accidents, one of the
causes is that some riders of motorcycle may not understand the warning “MAX
10 KM”. That is the impact of not understand the warning signs.The utterances
can be interpreted explicitly in order that utterance is clear and avoids ambiguity.
Explicature may help the readers in understanding the uttterances used in
directionals and warning signs which are posted at the state Islamic University
(UIN) of Malang. This research is not only interesting but also important to do
5 Ibid, 2007:103