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(2) MESSAGE:
The message is the focal element in the communication
process. No communication can occur in a message-free context. It
is the message which is the target of all communication.
Therefore, more light will be shed on this particular element. Any
message has a form and a content; a physical shape and a non-
physical intent. Both elements are inseparable. The form of the
message consists in the external 'sign' representation or
embodiment of the sender's intentions. The content of the message
constitutes the information to be imparted to the immediate
receptor. For a message to be meaningful and intelligible, both
form and content must be harmonized and well-balanced. In other
words, the linguistic representation of the message must be un-
crooked and well structured. In like manner, the ideational
content of the message must be easily extractable and sufficiently
obviated. Esotericism, which is mainly attributed to excessive
figuration and far-fetchedness, would result in structural
complexities and stylistic oddities which would impinge on both
the interpretability and communicability of the message.
The verbal form of the message consists of signs and sign
combinations; a concept of language which semioticians unanimously
uphold. These signs or sign combinations constitute the external
framework of the message. Semioticians label words and word
combinations 'conventional' signs as distinct from 'indexical'
and/or 'iconic' signs. Conventional because they are, as Nida
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