There are many completely different things in the world that we do not know about. An iconic sign is a concept that we seem to understand purely intuitively, but its full meaning is not quite the same as it seems at first glance. In this article we will talk about what iconic signs are, their role, purpose, and why it is important for us to know what they are.
But before you start talking directly about the subject of our article, we will plunge into the history of this concept.
History
So, when did iconic signs appear? The definition of this concept was first given by Charles Sanders Pierce, an American philosopher and mathematician who laid the foundations for such a science as semiotics. The life of this scientist falls in the middle of the nineteenth - the beginning of the twentieth century. From this we can conclude that, by the standards of history, iconic signs and symbols as concepts appeared not so long ago. However, since then the definition of the term has undergone significant changes. For example, in his theory of semiotics, Pierce concluded that the iconic sign and what it depicts are "the same thing." But if you look closely and delve deeper into this topic, you can ask yourself the question: "Does photography really have the same properties as the object or area depicted on it?" Of course not.
In order to somehow solve the problems that have arisen, the Italian scientist and philosopher Umberto Eco formulated the following idea: the difference between the iconic sign and the real picture is the peculiarity of perception. That is, perceiving some kind of image, we use the previously acquired knowledge about things and objects located on it.
Since we have touched upon a term such as semiotics, we will discuss it in more detail.
What is semiotics?
As mentioned above, this term means science, which is part of linguistics. It appeared recently and has since been very actively developing. Today, the analysis of texts at various levels is an important problem that is addressed by entire institutes and research groups of scientists.
With the help of semiotics, any information can be interpreted as text. And this is its feature. The information in the text can be represented in various ways. Including the usual verbal (or verbal) and iconic messages. Video can also be included in the concept of an iconic message. Indeed, today it is a huge amount of content consumed by people. Video recordings are actually a collection of iconic signs, which means that the video itself is such.
In fact, semiotics is not as simple a science as it seems. For example, even the images that we consume as content in many print and electronic media, being iconic, can, however, be interpreted differently. In order to understand the sign in the sense in which it is required of us, they usually comment on it: make signatures or footnotes.
We discussed the functions of semiotics as a science and as a tool for analyzing text. However, we will not go into details and proceed directly to the topic of our story. And we will start with the definition.
What are iconic signs?
In computer science, various symbols are of great importance. Including iconic ones. This, as you might guess, desktop icons. They have a direct resemblance to the designated object. Something like that is understood as iconic signs in linguistics. One of the prerequisites for such a symbol is its correspondence (similarity) with the designated object. In our life they are used quite actively. For example, a roadwork sign indicating the place of their conduct. But we did not start with the most common example. Probably the most understandable will be the statement that all the smiles and icons that we use when commenting on something or expressing our opinion on social networks are also iconic signs.
Now let's get to one of the most important parts of this article. We have to identify and understand the difference between iconic signs and symbols. It would seem that this is one and the same, because the first is actually the second. However, there are significant subtleties assumed by the definition of a symbol and an iconic sign separately.
By the way, directly examples of iconic signs and symbols you can see below.
Differences
What is the difference between iconic signs and symbols? In fact, there is only one fundamental difference. Consider a symbol for something, such as a chemical element. This is one or two letters (in the current table there are actually three letters) of the Latin alphabet. They do not have a direct bond with the atom. Looking at the symbol of a chemical element, it is impossible to say without possessing specific knowledge in the field of chemistry how many, for example, electrons are on its outer shell, or how many bonds it is able to form. Thus, a symbol can be understood as a certain code, the key to which lies in our consciousness. And if you do not know what the name of the chemical element is hidden behind its symbol, you are unlikely to guess about it by analyzing its individual signs or properties.
A completely different story with iconic signs. They are created so that a person can easily understand what is at stake. A prerequisite for any such pattern is recognition and similarity with the object that he depicts. Otherwise, the "icon" loses its unique properties and turns into a symbol. We already gave an example of such a sign in the last section, but nevertheless we will analyze one more for fixing. Each of us noticed, going into the toilet, signs denoting the male and female departments. As a rule, they are made in the form of figures of a man and a woman. Looking at them, we without any hints understand who this or that door is intended for. And this is the main advantage of iconic signs.
It's time to talk about the separation of roles. After all, we live “hand in hand” with both symbols and iconic signs.
Roles of signs and symbols
In the previous section, much has been written about the difference in the concepts we are discussing. Iconic signs, examples of which we have examined above, like symbols, perform an important function in our language and everyday life. With your permission, we will use the examples that were given in the previous sections to explain the new material.
So, where is the application of a symbol and an iconic sign? And in what situations is it better to designate an object in one way or another? Everything is quite simple and probably intuitive. Suppose we have a certain amount of information that we must invest in a future sign. When creating it, we must understand whether it will be an iconic sign or a symbolic object. Yes, the icon is easier to understand and faster to remember, but you can put a lot more information into the symbol, albeit requiring preliminary familiarization. For example, the notation of atoms of chemical elements contains a huge amount of information: having seen the formula of a molecule, we can immediately say how many bonds each atom forms, or calculate the number of its electrons. All this is possible thanks to our knowledge of the field of chemistry, which in this situation acts as a "decoder" of the symbolic code in our brains.
After all this, a logical question arises: "How and where are these or other types of designations applied, how are they related to each other, and are they connected at all?" In the next section, we will talk about how iconic signs are used in journalism.
How do journalists use it?
In the section on semiotics, we have already discussed the role of signs in the presentation of specific material. The time has come to talk about what information can be extracted from certain semiotic objects in the analysis of the text.
There is such a thing as creolized text. This is such a collection of semiotic signs, including several different types of messages. As an example, consider, for example, an article in a journal. It contains both the verbal part - the verbal exposition, and the iconic signs - the pictorial part.
Creolized texts differ from each other and are of two main types. The first is a material in which both parts of the text enter into equal relations with each other, but at the same time the verbal part is independent and does not lose a drop of meaning when it removes graphic elements. Thus, iconic signs and symbols in the form of images complement the verbal part of the above. This type of creolized text can often be seen in newspaper articles, news articles, and popular science articles. The second view, as you probably guessed, is a close combination of these two types of information. When the picture complements the text, it can be said that the synergy of these components (that is, the mutual enhancement of the effect of the perceived message) occurs. We notice examples of such texts every day, sitting on the Internet or walking along the street: this is an advertisement. We are attracted to the image in it, and only then we read the material from which we learn everything that we need to purchase the advertised product or service.
Without a doubt, journalism is the main field of application of the signs and symbols we are discussing. It was with its development that research in the field of semiotics began to advance. But let us turn to the not so trivial industry of using icons and symbols.
How is this applied in computer science?
The very name of this science - computer science - suggests that it closely studies information, the methods of its transmission and perception. In technology, iconic signs are used to transmit data to the user. For example, the simplest is the icons on your desktop. Even the name itself - “icons” - hints that all the icons on the desktop are iconic. And indeed it is. They give us information about the contents of the object that we click on. That is, by their appearance, we can understand what awaits us approximately if we open a shortcut with one or another iconic splash screen.
In general, symbols have long served people to transmit information and data. Today, ancient symbols have evolved into letters in various world languages, as well as into unique computer programming languages in which all operations and codes are also written using certain characters.
We figured out what role icons play in journalism. But after all, the field of application cannot be so interesting and, as we have found, the necessary concept to be limited to journalism and computer science. They are used in other areas of our lives.
Iconic signs in cultural studies
You probably know what culturology is and what it does. This is a huge area of knowledge (one might even say science), encompassing the entire culture of mankind since its inception. In fact, we owe so much in our life to this particular part of our being. If we had no culture, life in the ever-evolving and growing world of modernity would be impossible.
Cultural studies, among other things, also study writing, drawings, signs that people left at different times. Of course, among them are various images, and cave paintings, and letters, and manuscripts. And all this can be attributed to iconic signs. People in ancient times attached much more importance to them than we are now. They believed that a certain symbol can cause the spirit or, say, to heal a person. Until now, we see these remnants of the past: for example, the Voodoo doll. It is believed that if you create a doll that looks like a certain person and then puncture certain parts of it with a needle, then the real person will have pain in the areas where the needle sticks out in Voodoo. In fact, all this is just a misunderstanding of the iconic sign. After all, it does not have one hundred percent similarity with the depicted object and almost never possesses the same properties. An iconic sign is only an object with the help of which we can perceive some real picture or obtain information about it.
Now, with cultural studies, everything has become clearer. But what role do the objects we discuss play in everyday life? How do they affect us? The answers to these questions are in the next section.
Why is all this necessary?
We ourselves sometimes do not notice how we give signs some qualities that make them look like the objects depicted. But it is worth considering: is this right? Does the sign depicting any object or phenomenon really have something globally in common with the object that it is intended to denote? There is hardly such a connection. Of course, they do not have global common features, but there is something in common: without the depicted object or phenomenon there will be no symbol, since it simply will not be needed. Another detail that I would like to focus on is the interpretation of the symbol. We can perceive the same sign in different ways. Of course, iconic signs were created in order to narrow this circle of perception and direct a person specifically toward association with an object implied by the symbol. But, without knowledge of the object of the iconic sign, we will not be able to recognize it. This is also one of the problems of using and distributing icons.
In addition, very often students of a linguistic profile receive tasks such as: "indicate a sign that is not iconic." Do not explain how to perform such tasks. Indeed, at the beginning of the article we examined what the difference between iconic signs and symbols consists of.
Conclusion
Today we are all surrounded by information. And each of us sees a huge number of signs a day, and their number is constantly growing. It is very important not to get lost in this chaos of graphic symbols and to expand your baggage of knowledge about what surrounds us. After all, it can be difficult to guess what is hidden behind the next beautiful logo.