{"title":"Un système de signaux maritimes: Saussure’s Example of a Visual Code","authors":"Daniel A. Chandler","doi":"10.1515/lass-2022-080114","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Saussure regarded nautical flag signalling codes as a prime example of semiological systems. They have something in common with language (e.g., the principle of arbitrariness) but also some distinctive features (for instance, visual signifiers are unlike auditory ones in being able to deploy different features at the same time, such as shape and colour). The best-known example is the International Code of Signals (ICS). The system as it was during Saussure’s lifetime is explained with reference to his scattered observations, such as that a signal flag is merely “ un morceau d’étoffe ” until it is brought into use according to the prescriptions of the code shared by its users. Some commentators at the time envisaged this form of visual communication as a “universal language”. However, it is based on a restricted code, lacking the semantic universality of natural language. Each flag represents a letter, and combinations of flags represent predefined wordings in a “code book”. Such visual codes therefore depend on the prior existence of natural languages into and out of which they can be translated.","PeriodicalId":74056,"journal":{"name":"Language and semiotic studies","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2022-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Language and semiotic studies","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1515/lass-2022-080114","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Saussure regarded nautical flag signalling codes as a prime example of semiological systems. They have something in common with language (e.g., the principle of arbitrariness) but also some distinctive features (for instance, visual signifiers are unlike auditory ones in being able to deploy different features at the same time, such as shape and colour). The best-known example is the International Code of Signals (ICS). The system as it was during Saussure’s lifetime is explained with reference to his scattered observations, such as that a signal flag is merely “ un morceau d’étoffe ” until it is brought into use according to the prescriptions of the code shared by its users. Some commentators at the time envisaged this form of visual communication as a “universal language”. However, it is based on a restricted code, lacking the semantic universality of natural language. Each flag represents a letter, and combinations of flags represent predefined wordings in a “code book”. Such visual codes therefore depend on the prior existence of natural languages into and out of which they can be translated.
索绪尔认为航海旗信号码是符号学系统的一个主要例子。它们与语言有一些共同之处(例如,任意性原则),但也有一些独特的特征(例如,视觉能指与听觉能指不同,它能够同时使用不同的特征,如形状和颜色)。最著名的例子是国际信号规则(ICS)。索索尔在世时的系统是根据他的零星观察来解释的,例如,在根据用户共享的代码的规定投入使用之前,信号旗仅仅是“unmorceau d ' samtoffe”。当时一些评论家将这种形式的视觉交流设想为一种“通用语言”。然而,它是基于一种有限的代码,缺乏自然语言的语义通用性。每个标志代表一个字母,标志的组合代表“代码本”中预定义的措辞。因此,这种视觉编码依赖于它们可以被翻译成的自然语言的先验存在。