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GLOSSARY
grading on the same implicit dimension, e.g. good–bad where
‘not good’ is not necessarily ‘bad’ and vice versa. See also
binary oppositions.
analogue signs Analogue signs are signs in a form in which they
are perceived as involving graded relationships on a continuum
rather than as discrete units (in contrast to digital signs). Note,
however, that digital technology can transform analogue signs
into digital reproductions which may be perceptually indistinguishable
from the ‘originals’. See also digital signs.
anchorage Roland Barthes introduced the concept of anchorage.
Linguistic elements in a text (such as a caption) can serve to
‘anchor’ (or constrain) the preferred readings of an image
(conversely the illustrative use of an image can anchor an
ambiguous verbal text). See also preferred reading.
arbitrariness Saussure emphasized that the relationship between the
linguistic signifier and signified is arbitrary: the link between
them is not necessary, intrinsic or natural. Many subsequent
theorists apply this also to the relation between the signifier
and any real-world referent. Peirce noted that the relationship
between signifiers and their signifieds varies in arbitrariness.
Other semioticians argue that all signs are to some extent arbitrary
and conventional. See also conventionality, motivation
and constraint, primacy of the signifier, relative autonomy.
articulation of codes Articulation refers to structural levels within
semiotic codes. Semiotic codes have either single articulation,
double articulation or no articulation. See also double articulation,
relative autonomy, single articulation, unarticulated
codes.
associative relations This was Saussure’s term for what later came
to be called paradigmatic relations. The ‘formulaic’ associations
of linguistic signs include synonyms, antonyms,
similar-sounding words and words of similar grammatical
function. See also paradigm.
binarism The ontological division of a domain into two discrete
categories (dichotomies) or polarities. Binarism is a loaded
term which critics have applied to what they regard as the
obsessive dualism of structuralists such as Lévi-Strauss and