My Comment on Function Derivatives : Semiotics- Margith A. Strand

"The semiotic function and the genesis of pictorial meaning"

Göran Sonesson

in Tarasti, Eero, ed.,Center/Periphery in representations and institutions. Proceedings from the 3rd Annual Meeting and Congress of The International Semiotics Insitute, Imatra, Finland, July 16-21, 1990.: International Semiotics Institute, Imatra 1992; ss 211-256.

One way of approaching the subject matter of semiotics may be to consider what is implied by the notion of semiotic function. There are two classical contexts for the use of this phrase. One is found in the work of the linguist and proto-semiotician Louis Hjelmslev writing in the forties. To him, the semiotic function simply means that any sign must involve an expression serving as vehicle for a content. But as soon as we look a little closer into his notion of sign, things start out to be very complicated, so it will be more convenient to begin at the other end. The second classical locus appears spread out all other the numerous writings of the cognitive psychologist Jean Piaget. Therefore, we will first attend to Piaget, his admirers and critics, to both of which I happen to belong. But before we can begin to deepen our insights into semiotics by way of a discussion of the semiotic function, something must be said, in rough outline, and at a more abstract level, about semiotics in general and pictorial semiotics in particular.

Deriving from the context of the work above, I can formulate a "contextual semiotic methodology" of ascertaining the sentence and the paragraph contextual material in a new way of formulating the links of an linguistic expression which utilizes the "context" rather than the content of the work under consideration. Here, we are in the "thematics" mode, and as supported by the earlier diagram which is shown which expresses the connectivity between the "emergence" of the intent of the work, and the final outcome. The "stem word associations" have been replaced by the "contextual derivations" and the more-sentence structure friendly modes of language and idea expression. The connectivity between "discourse" and "Discourse" are still of importance, and the "domain" and the "range" functionalities of the method are considered to be the associated conrrespondence of the "code" variables in the proper "function" [contextual] locales (semiotic placements).