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Showing papers on "Sign (semiotics) published in 2007"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that icons evolve into symbols as a consequence of the systematic shift in the locus of information from the sign to the users' memory of the sign's usage supported by an interactive grounding process.

238 citations


Book
19 Apr 2007
TL;DR: This book discusses language in the Wild, Gesture, Sign, and Speech, and the Ritualization of Language, as well as conceptual Spaces and Embodied Actions, and The Gesture-Language Interface.
Abstract: 1. Grasping Language: Sign and the Evolution of Language 2. Language in the Wild: Paleontological and Primatological Evidence for Gestural Origins 3. Gesture, Sign, and Speech 4. Gesture, Sign, and Grammar: The Ritualization of Language 5. Conceptual Spaces and Embodied Actions 6. The Gesture-Language Interface 7. Invention of Visual Languages

150 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
Paul Kockelman1
TL;DR: In this article, the authors use a Peircean theory of meaning to define the degree to which one can control the expression of a sign, compose a sign-object relation, and commit to an interpretant of this signobject relation.
Abstract: Using a Peircean theory of meaning, agency may be theorized in terms of flexibility and accountability, on the one hand, and knowledge and power, on the other. In this theory, residential agency, which is closest to notions such as “power” and “choice,” is the degree to which one can control the expression of a sign, compose a sign-object relation, and commit to an interpretant of this signobject relation. Representational agency, which is closest to notions such as “knowledge” and “consciousness,” is the degree to which one can thematize a process, characterize a feature of this theme, and reason with this theme-character relation. Agency, as a kind of social and semiotic facility, is thereby theorized as multidimensional, graduated, and distributed. This theory allows one to analyze,

133 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper examined teachers' knowledge of students' understanding of the equal sign and variable, and students' success in applying their understanding of these concepts to core algebraic concepts, and found that teachers rarely identified misconceptions about either variable or the equal signs as an obstacle to solving problems that required application of the concepts.
Abstract: This article reports results from a study focused on teachers' knowledge of students' understanding of core algebraic concepts. In particular, the study examined middle school mathematics teachers' knowledge of students' understanding of the equal sign and variable, and students' success applying their understanding of these concepts. Interview data were collected from 20 middle school teachers regarding their predictions of student responses to written assessment items focusing on the equal sign and variable. Teachers' predictions of students' understanding of variable aligned to a large extent with students' actual responses to corresponding items. In contrast, teachers' predictions of students' understanding of the equal sign did not correspond with actual student responses. Further, teachers rarely identified misconceptions about either variable or the equal sign as an obstacle to solving problems that required application of these concepts. Implications for teacher professional development are discussed.

109 citations


Journal IssueDOI
TL;DR: It is argued that a subject-dependent-situation specific understanding of information is best suited to fulfill the needs in information science and that it is urgent for us to base Information Science (IS) on this alternative theoretical frame.
Abstract: This article contrasts Bates' understanding of information as an observer–independent phenomenon with an understanding of information as situational, put forward by, among others, Bateson, Yovits, Spang-Hanssen, Brier, Buckland, Goguen, and Hjorland. The conflict between objective and subjective ways of understanding information corresponds to the conflict between an understanding of information as a thing or a substance versus an understanding of it as a sign. It is a fundamental distinction that involves a whole theory of knowledge, and it has roots back to different metaphors applied in Shannon's information theory. It is argued that a subject-dependent-situation specific understanding of information is best suited to fulfill the needs in information science and that it is urgent for us to base Information Science (IS; or Library and Information Science, LIS) on this alternative theoretical frame. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

103 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This analysis shows that sign languages provide novel evidence in support of the centrality of the notion of subject in human language, and solves a typological puzzle about the apparent primacy of object in sign language verb agreement.
Abstract: The notion of subject in human language has a privileged status relative to other arguments. This special status is manifested in the behavior of subjects at the morphological, syntactic, semantic and discourse levels. Here we present evidence that subjects have a privileged status at the lexical level as well, by analyzing lexicalization patterns of verbs in three different sign languages. Our analysis shows that the sub-lexical structure of iconic signs denoting states of affairs in these languages manifests an inherent pattern of form-meaning correspondence: the signer's body consistently represents one argument of the verb, the subject. The hands, moving in relation to the body, represent all other components of the event - including all other arguments. This analysis shows that sign languages provide novel evidence in support of the centrality of the notion of subject in human language. It also solves a typological puzzle about the apparent primacy of object in sign language verb agreement, a primacy not usually found in spoken languages, in which subject agreement generally ranks higher. Our analysis suggests that the subject argument is represented by the body and is part of the lexical structure of the verb. Because it is always inherently represented in the structure of the sign, the subject is more basic than the object, and tolerates the omission of agreement morphology.

98 citations


Book ChapterDOI
19 Apr 2007
TL;DR: In this article, three design principles, associative, constructive and situative, are discussed, which emphasise the central importance of activity on the part of the learner, and the emergence of Learning Design as a dominant paradigm can be taken as a sign that activity is being reinstated as the focus of concern.
Abstract: What design principles can be derived from the theoretical discussions of the previous chapter? All three approaches – which I will term associative, constructive and situative – emphasize the central importance of activity on the part of the learner. Several decades of research support the view that it is the activity that the learner engages in, and the outcomes of that activity, that are significant for learning (e.g. Tergan 1997). There is no reason why the introduction of digital tools and materials should change this emphasis, and indeed the emergence of Learning Design as a dominant paradigm can be taken as a sign that activity is being reinstated as the focus of concern. Design for learning should therefore focus primarily on the activities undertaken by learners, and only secondarily on (for example) the tools or materials that support them.

91 citations


Book
30 Jun 2007
TL;DR: The Quest for Meaning as mentioned in this paper is a guide to semiotic theory and practice, discussing and illustrating the main trends, ideas, and figures of semiotics, as well as providing basic examples of how the discipline can be applied in everyday life.
Abstract: Semiotics is the study of the most critical feature of human consciousness - the capacity for creating and using signs such as words and symbols for thinking, communicating, reflecting, transmitting, and preserving knowledge. The Quest for Meaning is designed as a guide to basic semiotic theory and practice, discussing and illustrating the main trends, ideas, and figures of semiotics. Written as an introduction to the field, this study makes an otherwise complex discipline accessible to the interested reader. Marcel Danesi examines the various themes, concepts, and techniques that constitute current semiotic theory, and does so in lucid, easy to follow language. Cross-references between topics show the interconnectedness of many aspects of semiotic practice with a view to easing the understanding of the subject as a whole. Logically organized, Danesi treats such things as food, clothing, mathematics, and popular culture to semiotic readings, providing basic examples of how the discipline can be applied in everyday life. As a step-by-step introduction, The Quest for Meaning is the definitive guide for students and teachers exploring semiotics at the undergraduate level and beyond.

63 citations


Book
25 Sep 2007
TL;DR: A series of principles for effective sign design, with instruction based on research, the latest in educational and psychological theory, real-world examples, and practical guidelines, are provided in this paper.
Abstract: This guide provides a series of principles for effective sign design, with instruction based on research, the latest in educational and psychological theory, real-world examples, and practical guidelines. Designing Interpretive Signs includes information about choosing sign location, attracting and keeping visitors' attention, organizing information so that visitors can easily follow it, and generally improving signs for a range of uses.

55 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Two tests which have been adapted for several other sign languages are focused upon: the Test for American Sign Language and the British Sign Language Receptive Skills Test.
Abstract: Given the current lack of appropriate assessment tools for measuring deaf children's sign language skills, many test developers have used existing tests of other sign languages as templates to measure the sign language used by deaf people in their country. This article discusses factors that may influence the adaptation of assessment tests from one natural sign language to another. Two tests which have been adapted for several other sign languages are focused upon: the Test for American Sign Language and the British Sign Language Receptive Skills Test. A brief description is given of each test as well as insights from ongoing adaptations of these tests for other sign languages. The problems reported in these adaptations were found to be grounded in linguistic and cultural differences, which need to be considered for future test adaptations. Other reported shortcomings of test adaptation are related to the question of how well psychometric measures transfer from one instrument to another.

54 citations


Book
30 Aug 2007
TL;DR: In this article, the authors attempt to answer one simple question: What is Hamlet? Based on the material of Hamlet translations into Russian, the dissertation scrutinizes the problems of literary canon formati...
Abstract: This work is an attempt to answer one simple question: What is Hamlet? Based on the material of Hamlet translations into Russian, the dissertation scrutinizes the problems of literary canon formati ...

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 2007-Lingua
TL;DR: Research on classifiers at the level of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and discourse structure as well as in different populations of signers will assist the understanding of these complex structures within the context of current research on sign language linguistics.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Any evaluation of visuals, either textual or graphic, must be made with reference to rhetorical contexts in which audience needs and graphic/textual media choices should align with authorial goals.
Abstract: Technical communication textbooks tend to address visual rhetoric as two separate units, usually a chapter on document design and then a chapter on graphics. We advocate teaching a unified system of visual rhetoric that encompasses both text and graphics within a common visual-language system. Using C. S. Peirce's three-part theory of rhetoric and his ten categories of sign, we offer an integrated semiotic system, interpreting in one model the effectiveness of graphics, document design, and formatting, all considered as subtypes in this proposed visual rhetoric, organized around three primary communication goals: to decorate, to indicate, and to inform. Thus, any evaluation of visuals, either textual or graphic, must be made with reference to rhetorical contexts in which audience needs and graphic/textual media choices should align with authorial goals

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors report the language and literacy learning opportunities, and the conditions necessary to bring them about, in the art component of an innovative intergenerational program, focusing on the children in the programme (median age 4), their interaction with adult participants and facilitators, and how they used various sign systems to communicate meaning.
Abstract: This naturalistic study reports the language and literacy‐learning opportunities, and the conditions necessary to bring them about, in the art component of an innovative intergenerational programme. The focus is on the children in the programme (median age 4), their interaction with adult participants (median age 85) and facilitators, and the ways in which they used various sign systems to communicate meaning. There were many semiotic opportunities within the art programme, and these opportunities were enhanced by the intergenerational factor.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Design is a conceptual activity involving formulating an idea intended to be expressed in a visible form or carried into action as discussed by the authors, whereas planning is about realization, organization, and execution.
Abstract: Design is a term that differs from, but often is confused with, planning. While planning is the act of devising a scheme, program, or method worked out beforehand for the accomplishment of an objective, design is a conceptual activity involving formulating an idea intended to be expressed in a visible form or carried into action. Design is about conceptualization, imagination, and interpretation. In contrast, planning is about realization, organization, and execution. Rather than indicating a course of action that is specific for the accomplishment of a task, design is a vague, ambiguous, and indefinite process of genesis, emergence, or formation of something to be executed, but whose starting point, origin, or process often are uncertain. Design provides the spark of an idea and the formation of a mental image. It is about the primordial stage of capturing, conceiving, and outlining the main features of a plan and, as such, it always precedes the planning stage. Etymologically, the verb “design” is derived from the prefix de and the Latin verb signare, which means to mark, mark out, or sign. The prefix de is used not in the derogatory sense of opposition or reversal, but in the constructive sense of derivation, deduction, or inference. In that context, the word “design” is about the derivation of something that suggests the presence or existence of a fact, condition, or quality. In Greek, the word “design” is σχe′διo (pronounced schedio), which is derived from the root σχeδο′ν (pronounced schedon), which means “nearly, almost, about, or approximately.” Thus, from its Greek definition, design is about incompleteness, indefiniteness, or imperfection, yet it also is about likelihood, expectation, or anticipation. In its largest sense, design signifies not only the vague, intangible, or ambiguous, but also the strive to capture the elusive.1 Traveling further back into the origin of the Greek word σχeδο′ν (pronounced schedon), one may find that it is derived from the word e′σχeιν (pronounced eschein),2 which is the past tense of the word e′χω (pronounced eho), which in English means to have, hold, or possess. Translating the etymological context into English, it can be said that design is about something we once had, but have no longer. The past tense in the Greek language is referred to as indefinite (αο′ριστος) and, as such, it is about an event that did occur at an unspecified time in the past, hence it could have happened anytime between a fraction of a second and years ago. So, according 1 Precisely, the root of σχeδο′ν (pronounced schedon) is derived from e′σχeιν (pronounced eschein), which is the past tense of the verb e′χω (pronounced eho), that is “to have.” Therefore, design literally is about the reminiscence of a past possession, at an indefinite state, and at an uncertain time. Similarly, the word “scheme” from the Greek σχη′μα means “shape” and also is derived from the root σχeδο′ν. 2 eσχeιν (pronounced eschein) is also the root of the English word “scheme.”

Book
31 Oct 2007
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss the authority of the Quran in the modern world and the Moral Challenge of Secular Humanism in the context of Islam and the Secular Mind.
Abstract: Introduction Part 1: Quranic Islam and the Secular Mind 1. Locating Islam in the Modern World 2. Human Reason and Divine Revelation 3. The Moral Challenge of Secular Humanism Part 2: An Arabic Quran: Assessing its Authority 4. The Book Sent Down 5. The Book as 'The Frustrater' 6. The Scope of the Book 7. The Authority of the Book Part 3: A Quranic Lebenswelt in a Secular Age 8. A Sign is Enough - For the Wise 9. Faith and the Varieties of Rejection 10. Human Nature and the Quran 11. 'Greater is God!' Part 4: Conclusions 12. Preface to a Philosophy of Islam

Proceedings ArticleDOI
15 Apr 2007
TL;DR: Web3D technologies such as X3D and H-Anim humanoids are exploited to better understand signs and to simplify sign-to-word and sign- to-sign search, by proposing an online international sign language dictionary, called 3DictSL.
Abstract: Sign languages are visual languages used by deaf people to communicate. As with spoken languages, sign languages vary among countries and have their own vocabulary and grammar. Therefore, the different deaf communities need a dictionary that associates signs to the words of the spoken language of their country as well as dictionaries which translate signs from a sign language to another. Several researchers proposed multimedia dictionaries for sign languages of specific countries, but there are only a few proposals of multilanguage dictionaries. Moreover, current multimedia dictionaries suffer from serious limitations. Most of them allow only for a word-to-sign search, while only a few of them exploit sign parameters (i.e., handshape, orientation, location, and movement) to allow for a sign-to-word search. Current solutions also commonly use pictures or videos to represent signs and their parameters, but 2D images are often misleading for a correct identification (e.g., recognizing an handshape can be very difficult due to occlusions). This paper aims at facing the above described issues, exploiting Web3D technologies such as X3D and H-Anim humanoids to better understand signs and to simplify sign-to-word and sign-to-sign search, by proposing an online international sign language dictionary, called 3DictSL. The paper presents the client-server architecture of 3DictSL and authoring tools which allow deaf communities to extend the dictionary with their own language. As a practical case study, the paper discusses the implementation of Italian Sign Language (LIS).

Dissertation
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe and characterize relational thinking and analyze its connection with other terms of the mathematics education literature: number sense, operational sense, structural sense, symbolic sense, flexible computation strategies, mental computation, conceptual meta-strategies and quasivariable thinking.
Abstract: This research study is a teaching experiment, related to the proposal Early-Algebra, within the methodological paradigm called research design. Our research goal is the study of the students? use and development of relational thinking and the meanings of the equal sign that students display when solving number sentences based on arithmetic properties. We describe and characterize relational thinking and analyze its connection with other terms of the mathematics education literature: number sense, operational sense, structural sense, symbolic sense, flexible computation strategies, mental computation, conceptual meta-strategies and quasivariable thinking. We deepen on the meaning of the terms equality, equivalence and identity, the origin and historical evolution of the equal sign and the various meanings given to this symbol in arithmetic and algebraic context. We discuss the origin, foundation, main characteristics, potential and limitations of design research and, particularly, of transformative and conjecture driven teaching experiments. From the data collection of the empirical part of this study, (a) we identify the strategies used by the participant students when solving the considered number sentences; (b) we characterize the use of relational thinking evidenced in their productions and interventions and identify the elements at the focus of their attention; (c) we analyze and evaluate the students? understanding of the equal sign displayed when solving and constructing number sentences; and (d) we describe the evolution of students? understanding of the equal sign and of the use of relational thinking they display.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Sign and translation can benefit from contributions from translation theory and practice, whether a question of sign in general (which uniquely subsists in relation to the interpretant that translates it), or of specifically human semiosis understood as metasemiosis (that is, reflection through signs on signs), and therefore, trans-semiosis as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: This paper focuses on the essential connection between sign and translation, which implies thematization of the relation between semiotics and translation theory and practice. A theory of translation cannot prescind from semiotics of translation. Vice versa, sign theory can benefit from contributions from translation theory and practice, whether a question of sign in general (which uniquely subsists in relation to the interpretant that translates it), or of specifically human semiosis understood as metasemiosis (that is, reflection through signs on signs), and, therefore, as trans-semiosis. From a semiotic perspective the relation between original text and translated text is a relation between interpreted sign and interpretant sign. This relation is characterized by iconicity - it is a special type of similarity relation. From this viewpoint, a typology of translation like Jakobson's can be related to a sign typology like Peirce's. The question of iconicity is also relevant because verbal language avails itself not only of concepts but also metaphors. A difficulty in translation is that of translating metaphors from the language of others. In Peirce's classification, metaphor is an iconic sign. It is not incidental that an important theorizer in the field of semiotics, Victoria Welby, described signs not only in terms of interpretation but also of translation, and that she devoted special attention to the question of metaphor. The semiotic approach also throws light on a central problem in translation theory - that of translatability. Whether a question of ordinary language, or literary language, in particular the poetic, or of specialized, sectorial languages, the question of translatability cannot be dealt with prescinding from what Sebeok calls 'primary modeling' or what Rossi-Landi describes as 'common speech,' and subsequently 'linguistic work.'

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present different semiotic perspectives on biological mimicry, which is considered to be a communicative system consisting of a mimic, a model, and a signal-receiver.
Abstract: This article presents different semiotic perspectives on biological mimicry, which is considered to be a communicative system consisting of a mimic, a model, and a signal-receiver Proceeding from the writings of Thomas A Sebeok, the activity of the mimic and the relationship between mimicry and iconicity are analyzed From the signal-receiver's perspective, mimicry is described as a probable mistake in recognition and it is characterized by the notion of ambivalent sign Ambivalent sign is a stable sign structure fluctuating between one and two signs On the basis of Jakob von Uexkiill's works, mimicry resemblance is described as taking place in animal Umwelten From this semiotic viewpoint, various examples of abstract resemblance in nature are regarded as 'resemblance with meaning' and an alternative explanation to the concept of abstract mimicry is presented

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The signer's hands and arms are busy articulating lexical items that are governed by the phonology of the language, and those items are sequenced in ways that adhere to the grammatical conventions of that language.
Abstract: MANY PEOPLE WOULD AGREE that watching a skilled signer of American Sign Language (ASL) or any sign language narrate a story is a visual treat. The signer's hands and arms are busy articulating lexical items that are governed by the phonology of the language, and those items are sequenced in ways that adhere to the grammatical conventions of that language. Nonmanual signals such as the linguistic use of eyegaze, head tilt, and various mouth movements are also part of the vivid visual displays of body language the signer creates. Additionally, parts of the body, particularly from the waist upward, are also very involved in depicting various aspects of characters or animate entities from the narrative. During descriptions of animate entities, the signer often provides a correspondence between parts of her own body and that which she is attempting to describe-the referent object. Correspondence between the signer and the referent is common in signed languages, and such correspondence can be seen in various communicative devices: fixed or "frozen" signs (i.e., those that do not tend to vary with the articulation of phonological parameters), more productive signs such as socalled classifiers, and uses of the upper body to depict characteristics and movements of an animate being. This article discusses various aspects of this correspondence, and data from ASL are used to illustrate points about this commonly used phenomenon in signed languages. Correspondence between the Signer's Body and the Referent Some signs depict correspondences between the signer's hands and arms and the referent-a characteristic of sign languages that has been called iconidty. Chuck Baird, a well-known Deaf artist in the United States, knows well that some signs are iconic, and one facet of iconicity is that the hands and arms can exist in a one-to-one relationship with the referent. Baird's work contains many examples of articulators creating shapes that mirror those of real-world objects and phenomena-examples of ASL signs. For instance, his 1978 work Sunset in Austin captures the image of a sun setting over the horizon by showing the sun with the ASL F handshape and the horizon with the horizontally oriented nondominant arm (figure 2 in the appendix).1 Further, his 1992 work, Fingershell, depicts a turtle beside two hands that are articulating the ASL sign TURTLE (see figure 3 in the appendix); presumably the thumb of the right hand, which points outward from an A handshape (with the dorsal side of the pinky facing downward), portrays the turtle's head, while the cupped left hand over the right hand (with the exception of the tip of the thumb) corresponds to the turtle's shell. Both signs are iconic, although Austin Sunset depicts an inanimate entity, whereas Fingershell represents an animate one. Sign language researchers also know that many signs are iconic and that iconicity is multifaceted (e.g., see Taub 2001). Even in the early days of research on ASL, various authors (e.g., Mandel 1977; DeMatteo 1977; and Klima and Bellugi 1979) wrote about the pictorial quality of some signs and the various actions that a signer utilizes to create meaning. However, it is also commonly known that not all signs of sign languages are iconic-many have litde to no physical correspondence with their referents-like the current-day ASL sign SCHOOL, which is articulated by clapping the dominant hand on the nondominant hand twice. This sign bears little visual resemblance to a school or symbol that is used to refer to schools, such as those that appear on street signs in the vicinity of school buildings (e.g., students walking and carrying books, a mortarboard and tassel, or the symbolic one-room schoolhouse). Signs such as SCHOOL might be considered arbitrary-at least from a visual perspective-although, like many signs, it is likely that a folk etymology that is iconically based could be suggested (e.g., the sign might stem from the clapping that a teacher does to get the students' attention). …

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: For instance, the authors examines Peirce's semiotic philosophy and its development in the light of his characterisations of representationism and presentationism, and finds that the strongest evidence for this reading is found in the contention that the percept is not a sign, and concludes with considerations of possible objections and alternatives to the proposed interpretation in addition to some reflections on the consequences and relevance of the turn toward presentationism.
Abstract: 1 This article examines Peirce's semiotic philosophy and its development in the light of his characterisations of "representationism" and "presentationism". In his definitions of these positions, Peirce overtly pits the representationists, who treat percepts as representatives, against the presentationists, according to whom percepts do not stand for hidden realities. The article shows that Peirce's early writings—in particular the essay "On the Doctrine of Immediate Perception" and certain key texts from the period 1868–9—advocate an inferentialist approach clearly associated with representationism. However, although Peirce continues to deny the cognitive import of first impressions throughout his philosophical career, the new view of perception that emerges in the early 1900s indicates a significant move in the direction of a presentationist point of view, a development partly corresponding to changes in his theory of categories. The strongest evidence for this reading is found in Peirce's contention that the percept is not a sign. The discussion concludes with considerations of possible objections and alternatives to the proposed interpretation in addition to some reflections on the consequences and relevance of Peirce's turn toward presentationism.

Journal Article
TL;DR: The results suggested that cognitive design features are useful for designing more user-friendly traffic signs, which should transmit clear messages about road conditions ahead at the right time to road users.
Abstract: The success of effective communication of traffic sign messages to road users may not only relate to the user characteristics but also the signs themselves. The purpose of this experiment was to examine the cognitive design features of 120 Mainland China traffic signs. The features included familiarity, concreteness, simplicity, meaningfulness, and semantic closeness. Forty-one Hong Kong Chinese engineering undergraduates, who have never taken any driving tests, nor possessed any driving licenses in any places, voluntarily participated in this experiment. For each sign, subjects were asked to give subjective ratings between 0 to 100 points for familiarity (0 = very unfamiliar, 100 = very familiar), concreteness (0 = definitely abstract, 100 = definitely concrete), simplicity (0 = very complex, 100 = very simple), meaningfulness (0 = completely meaningless, 100 = completely meaningful), and semantic closeness (0 = very weakly related, 100 = very strongly related). With the exception of familiarity, the mean ratings on the other four sign features for all signs were above the midpoint (50) of the 0-100 rating scale. The below the mid-point rating (43.87) on familiarity showed that the subjects were not quite familiar with the chosen Mainland China traffic signs. The mean ratings for concreteness, simplicity, meaningfulness, and semantic closeness for all signs were 62.60, 75.81, 69.37, and 68.44, respectively, illustrating that the selected traffic signs were perceived to be moderately concrete, simple and meaningful, and related to their intended meanings. Significant and positive relationships were found amongst the cognitive sign features of familiarity, concreteness, meaningfulness, and semantic closeness. Other than with familiarity, simplicity did not correlate with the other four features. The box plot may be used as a tool for identifying unusual signs for in-depth analysis and for guiding designers to develop new traffic signs at the design stage. The results suggested that cognitive design features are useful for designing more user-friendly traffic signs, which should transmit clear messages about road conditions ahead at the right time to road users. Further research efforts will be given in investigating the effect of sign features on sign comprehension. are usually conveyed with the use of symbols, words, or a combination of both. There are some studies addressed to traffic signs on, for instance, sign visibility (2), sign luminance (3), sign conspicuity (4), and sign comprehensibility (5). The success of effective communication of sign messages to road users may not only relate to the user characteristics but also the signs themselves. Instead of considering icon features that are self-evident (e.g. color and shape) or those that can be identified only in relation to other icons (e.g. distinctiveness), the icon features like familiarity, concreteness, complexity, meaningfulness, and semantic distance are of central concern in icon research (6). Familiarity is defined in terms of the frequency with which icons had been encountered by subjects. Icons are regarded as concrete if they depict real objects, materials, or people; those that do not depict real objects are considered as abstract. Icons are regarded as complex if they contain a lot of detail or are intricate, and they are simple if they only contain few elements or little detail. Meaningfulness refers to how meaningful the judges perceive icons to be. Semantic distance is a measure of the closeness of the relationship between what is depicted in an icon and the function it is intended to represent. The interrelationships between icon familiarity, concreteness, complexity, meaningfulness, and semantic distance had been examined with two hundred and thirty-nine icons which included computer icons, traffic and public information icons, industrial icons, symbols for household goods (6). Without consideration of the subject experience of the icons, the results revealed that icon familiarity, concreteness, meaningfulness, and semantic distance were strongly interrelated, whereas icon complexity did not correlate closely with other features. As the frequency of use of an icon would continually reinforce the perceived semantic closeness of the icon (7), the results of interrelationships amongst icon features would be different for naive and experienced subjects. This experiment aimed to study the cognitive design features of traffic signs with prospective drivers. Mainland China traffic signs were selected and tested in this experiment to reduce any influence of possible daily encounters or prior experience for the subjects. To build more consistent order of response scales amongst the five sign features, the terms 'complexity' and 'semantic distance' used in (6) were revised as 'simplicity' and 'semantic closeness', respectively in this study. The collected data were processed and analyzed with appropriate statistical techniques. The results of this experiment should provide useful information and the basis for recommendations for designing more user-friendly traffic signs.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Textures of Time as mentioned in this paper is a rich and challenging book that raises a host of important and hard questions about historical narrative, form, and style; the sociology of texts; and the core problem of ascertaining historical truth.
Abstract: Textures of Time is a rich and challenging book that raises a host of important and hard questions about historical narrative, form, and style; the sociology of texts; and the core problem of ascertaining historical truth. Two that pertain to the book's main claims are of special interest to nonspecialist readers: Is register or style—“texture”—necessarily and everywhere diagnostic of “history”? Does a new kind of “historical consciousness” emerge in south India beginning in the sixteenth century, indeed as a sign of an Indian early modernity?Textures is not the first book to argue that historical discourse is constitutively marked by a peculiar style, but the claim is beset by difficulties that scholars since Barthes have detailed. Rather than textures of time—accounts of what really happened in history—what these works offer us may be only pretextures of time, textualized forms of a human experience that make claims about its degrees and types of truth through representations of various states of temporality. Instead of assessing, then, whether these works are history or something else like “myth,” we might ask whether they invite us to transcend this very dichotomy, to try, that is, to make sense of historical forms of consciousness rather than to identify forms of historical consciousness. As for modernity, nothing in south Indian historiography from 1500–1800 remotely compares to the conceptual revolution of Europe. But why should we expect the newness of the early modern world to have been experienced the same way everywhere? Modernity across Asia may have shown simultaneity without symmetry. Should this asymmetry turn out to reveal continuity and not rupture, however, no need to lament the fact. There is no shame in premodernity.

Book
15 Oct 2007
TL;DR: I: 'Stop making love outside Aras an Uachtarain' II: 'Decidedly a "personality" III: 'I would have gone and said, "Go to the devil, I will not sign".' IV: 'Appearing on platforms at twilight illuminated by blazing sods of turf'V: 'Our international position will let the world and the people at home know that we are independent.' VI: 'An affair of hasty improvisations, a matter of fits and starts.' VII: 'The policy of patience has failed and is over
Abstract: I: 'Stop making love outside Aras an Uachtarain' II: 'Decidedly a "personality"' III: 'I would have gone and said, "Go to the devil, I will not sign".' IV: 'Appearing on platforms at twilight illuminated by blazing sods of turf ' V: 'Our international position will let the world and the people at home knowthat we are independent.' VI: 'An affair of hasty improvisations, a matter of fits and starts.' VII: 'The policy of patience has failed and is over' VIII: 'Too trained in English democracy to sit down under a dictatorship' IX: 'A definite Liberalism is always present.' X: 'A fascist and slave conception of woman' XI: 'Is it smugness or insurgency that makes them say "Emergency"?' XII: 'One man shouldn't have a vision like that for all the people' XIII: 'I regret the modern overwhelming invasion of science' XIV: 'I have had all the things that in a human way make for happiness.' XV: 'Tough as teak' XVI: 'One of the last of the great Victorians'?

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article analyzed a televised political advertisement run by David Perryman against former Congressman J. C. Watts in the 1994 Fourth District Congressional race in Oklahoma and found that the ad argued against Watts' candidacy by implicitly appealing to audience members' negative associations of blackness with inferiority, criminality, and perceptions of black militancy associated with the black power movement.
Abstract: This paper analyzes a televised political advertisement run by David Perryman against former Congressman J. C. Watts in the 1994 Fourth District Congressional race in Oklahoma. Relying on Roland Barthes’ conception of the rhetoric of the image — what I refer to as critical semiotics — the paper investigates the four sign systems at work in the ad: photographs, written language, spoken language (narration), and moving images. The analysis demonstrates: how the sponsor of the ad uses the trope of the ‘Afro’ as the primary signifying image; that the ad argues against Watts’ candidacy by implicitly appealing to audience members’ (voters’) negative associations of blackness with inferiority, criminality, and perceptions of black militancy associated with the black power movement.


Book
15 May 2007
TL;DR: Hoza et al. as mentioned in this paper studied politeness in American Sign Language and English and explored the particular linguistic strategies ASL signers and English speakers employ when they interact in these contexts.
Abstract: The general stereotype regarding interaction between American Sign Language and English is a model of oversimplification: ASL signers are direct and English speakers are indirect. Jack Hoza s study "It s Not What You Sign, It s How You Sign It: Politeness in American Sign Language" upends this common impression through an in-depth comparison of the communication styles between these two language communities. Hoza investigates relevant social variables in specific contexts and explores the particular linguistic strategies ASL signers and English speakers employ when they interact in these contexts. "It s Not What You Sign, It s How You Sign It" is framed within politeness theory, an apt model to determine various interpretations of what speakers or signers mean in respect to the form of that which they say or sign. The variations reveal how linguistic and cultural differences intersect in ways that are often misinterpreted or overlooked in cross-cultural communication. To clarify these cross-linguistic differences, this volume explores two primary types of politeness and the linguistic strategies used by English speakers and ASL signers to express politeness concerns in face-to-face interaction. Hoza s final analysis leads to a better understanding of the rich complexity of the linguistic choices of these language groups."

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this article, a possible connection between metaphor and cognition is made, and it is argued that metaphor is part of an intricate relation between experience, body, sign and guessing instinct as a semeiotic mechanism which can convey new insights.
Abstract: C. S. Peirce had no theory of metaphor and provided only few remarks concerning the trope. Yet, some of these remarks seem to suggest that Peirce saw metaphor as fundamental to consciousness and thought. In this article we sketch a possible connection between metaphor and cognition; we understand Peircean metaphor as rooted in abduction; it is part of an intricate relation between experience, body, sign and guessing instinct as a semeiotic mechanism which can convey new insights.

01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: In this article, the focus of the analysis shifts from single future signs to the signification processes in which the future signs are perceived, interpreted and produced, which is a process of learning and acting, focused on the solving of problems related to the issue in question.
Abstract: Weak signals have aroused increasing interest among futurists in recent years. The dilemma caused by their varying definitions led Hiltunen (2008) to introduce the concept of 'future sign', which is based on Peirce's semiotic model of the sign. Hiltunen's conceptual framework is developed further in this paper. The focus of the analysis shifts from single future signs to the signification processes in which the future signs are perceived, interpreted and produced. The idea is that every future-oriented signification process is based on some issue on the agenda. It is a process of learning and acting, focused on the solving of problems related to the issue in question.