Semiotics is described as 'a highly sophisticated classification of signs devised by the American philosopher, C. S. Peirce (1839—1914). Peirce, who is commonly regarded as a founding father of semiotics or semiology, the study of signs, distinguishes between the icon — a sign which resembles the object which it represents, such as a photograph; the index — a sign which is directly linked to its object, usually in a causal or sequential way: smoke, for instance, is an index of fire; and the symbol — a sign which bears no resemblance or connection to its object, for example the Union Jack as a symbol of Great Britain.
In radio all the signs are auditory: they consist simply of noises and silence, and therefore use time, not space, as their major structuring agent.
Since words are signs which do not resemble what they represent, they are symbolic in character. Their symbolism is the basis of radio’s imaginative appeal, for if the word-sign does not resemble its object the listener must visualize, picture or imagine that object. But there is an important difference between words which are written or printed on a page and words on the radio, and that is that words on the radio are always and unavoidably spoken.
They therefore constitute a code in which the words themselves are symbols of what they represent, while the vo ice in which they are heard is an index of the person or ‘character’ who is speaking — a fact which was perceived and researched fairly early in the medium’s history (Pear, 1931). In other words
such factors as accent and stress have semiotic functions, or at least effects (O’Donnell and Todd, 1980:95). Almost irrespective of what is said in a French accent, for example, the listener may automatically ascribe a romantic personality to its speaker.
evaluation
13 years ago
