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GLOSSARY
to it or closely associated with it in some way, notably the
substitution of effect for cause. It is sometimes considered to
include the functions ascribed by some to synecdoche.
Metonymy simulates an indexical mode. See also irony,
metaphor, synecdoche, trope.
modality Modality refers to the reality status accorded to or claimed
by a sign, text or genre.
modelling systems, primary and secondary Secondary modelling
systems are described, following Lotman, as semiotic superstructures
built upon primary modelling systems. Saussure
treated spoken language as primary and saw the written word
as secondary. Since this stance grants primacy to the spoken
form, it has been criticized as phonocentric. Other theorists
have extended this notion to texts in other media, seeing them
as secondary modelling systems built out of a primary
‘language’. See also phonocentrism.
modes of address Implicit and explicit ways in which aspects of
the style, structure and/or content of a text function to position
readers as subjects (‘ideal readers’) (e.g. in relation to
class, age, gender and ethnicity). See also functions of signs.
motivation and constraint The term ‘motivation’ (used by
Saussure) is sometimes contrasted with ‘constraint’ in
describing the extent to which the signified determines the
signifier. The more a signifier is constrained by the signified,
the more ‘motivated’ the sign is: iconic signs are highly motivated;
symbolic signs are unmotivated. The less motivated the
sign, the more learning of an agreed code is required. See also
arbitrariness.
multiaccentuality of the sign Voloshinov’s term is used to refer to
the diversity of the use and interpretation of texts by different
audiences.
myth For Lévi-Strauss, myths were systems of binary alignments
mediating between nature and culture. For Barthes, myths were
the dominant discourses of contemporary culture. He argued
that myths were a metalanguage operating through codes and
serving the ideological function of naturalization.