Introductory notes to the Semiotics of Music - Philip Tagg's home page

46 P Tagg: Notes on Semiotics of Music Abbreviated taxonomy of PMFAs PMFCs
supermarkets; airports; [5] traffic; [6] miscellaneous: street lights, neon; outdoor adverts;
asphalt, concrete
Sociocultural location, incl. [1] upper, rich, snob, royal, etc; [2] middle class; [3] lower,
poor people, working class
Geographical and/or ethnic location, including [1] Northwestern Europe; [2] Mediterranean
Europe; [3] Eastern Europe and the Balkans; [4] Near and Middle East; [5] Indian
subcontinent; [6] East Asia; [7] North America; [8] Central and South America; [9] Oceania;
[10] other regions
Historical location, incl. [1] generally in the past: old days, historical; [2] prehistoric; [3]
ancient; [4] medieval; [5] renaissance, baroque; [6] 18th century; [7] 19th century; [8]
decades in 20th century; [9] contemporary, modern; [10] future time, tomorrow’s world
Weather, season, time of day, incl. [1] weather: fine, nice weather, sunshine; sunrise, sunset;
moon(light); fog, haze; storms; wind, breeze; rain; ice, snow; [2] season: spring;
summer; autumn; winter; [3] time of day: dawn, early morning; daytime; evening, twilight;
night
Synoptic and episodic time
Synoptic time, i.e. relation to formal time position outside an imagined narrative. This
category includes [1] beginning: overture, start, main titles, introduction; [2] middle:
scene, episode, break in action, interlude; [3] end: finale, final scene, dénouement, end
titles
Episodic time, i.e. relation to events within an imagined narrative, including [1] future:
about to (happen), going to (do), not yet, being announced, soon, (something) is expected,
consequences, leading to, etc; [2] present: at this moment, has just started; switches
to; after which; changes mood; meanwhile, etc; [3] past: has just …, finally, …has happened;
after a long time; used to (do), etc.
Explicit space-time relations, movements and acts
This section contains references to the relative positions of objects or beings, their type
and speed of movement, and their type and nature of action or interaction.
General: movement; actions
Essive relations, incl. [1] inessive: among/in, between, in middle of; [2] superessive:
above, overhead, on high; [3] subessive: below, underneath; [4] retroessive: behind; [5]
preessive: in front; [6] circumessive: around
Velocity, simultaneity, incl. [1] low speed: slow, gradual; covering a long time [2] high
speed: fast, quick; sudden; momentary, immediate; [3] simultaneity: at same time
Non-specified movement, specific direction, i.e. connotations specifying the direction of objects
or beings in relation to a subjective camera or microphone within the imagined
narrative, without specifying other aspects of the movement. This category includes [1]
adventive: approach, arrive, coming; enter, appear; from elsewhere; meet, towards
each other; return, come home; [2] exitive: en route to, going to …; find, explore, search;
away from (here), depart, escape, set off; goodbye, part, separate, leave; [3] transitional:
pass, past (by); along, forwards, between, through; [4] ascending: rise, from below;
open up, open out; [5] descending: fall, sink, from above; [6] circular: circling, enveloping,
gather round
Oscillatory movement, i.e. relatively constant and recurrent movement round and round,
to and fro, etc., without any specified single direction of the object moving in such a
way. This category includes [1] curvilinear: rolling, undulating; wafting, waving, billowing,
swaying; round and round, spinning, whirling; [2] tremulous: trembling; glit-