1、什么是符號？ What is a sign? As Peirce sees it, A sign, or representamen, is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity. (CP vol.2: 135) A sign can be verbal or non-verbal.,the linguistic sign is “then a two-sided psychological entity”, and it may be represented by the fo

2、llowing diagram. Figure 2.1 Nature of the Linguistic Sign (Saussure, 1972, 2001: 67),Concept Sound Pattern,能指與所指signifier Eco 1990:67),皮爾士三分法A trichotomy of signs: icon, index, and symbol,Peirce divides signs by three trichotomies (later he discovered ten trichotomies and sixty-six classes of signs)

3、. Firstly, in terms of the characteristics of the sign itself, a sign may be a mere quality, an actual existence, or a general law; Secondly, in terms of relation, signs are divided according as the relation of the sign to its object consists in the signs having some character in itself, or in some

4、existential relation to that object, or in its relation to an interpretant; Thirdly, according as its Interpretant represents it as a sign of possible or as a sign of fact or a sign of reason.,According to the second trichotomy, a Sign may be termed an Icon, an Index, or a Symbol.,1) ICON “An Icon i

5、s a sign which refers to the object that it denotes merely by virtue of characters of its own, and which it possesses, just the same, whether any such Object actually exists or not”. (CP vol. 2:143) For instance, map, picture, photos etc. are icons. Icons as such have the same characteristics as the

6、ir objects.,2) INDEX “An Index is a sign which refers to the Object that it denotes by virtue of being really affected by that Object. It does, therefore, involve a sort of Icon ” (CP vol. 2: 143). If the sign be an Index, it can be considered as a fragment torn away from the object, the relation be

7、tween the sign and the object is the relation between the whole and a part. An index reminds us of the existence of its object. For example, the contents of a book may be considered as the index of the book itself. Another example is footprint. Footprint on the sands may remind of presence of a man

8、who has walked away from here.,3) SYMBOL “A Symbol is a sign which refers to the Object that it denotes by virtue of a law, usually an association of general ideas, which operates to cause the symbol to be interpreted as referring to that Object. It is thus itself a general type or law, that it, is

9、a Legisign. and thus the Symbol will involve a sort of Index, ” (CP vol. 2:144) For instance, pigeon is the symbol of peace, scales are the symbol of justice. Symbols stand for their objects by social and cultural conventions, for example, the Great Wall symbolizes China, dragon also symbolizes Chin

10、a because they are conventionally considered so.,什么是符號學(xué)？,符號學(xué)的思想是在20世紀(jì)初由瑞士語言學(xué)家索緒爾（Saussure）首先提出的，在其普通語言學(xué)教程一書中寫道：“我們可以設(shè)想有一門研究社會中符號生命的科學(xué) 我將把它叫做符號學(xué)。符號學(xué)將表明符號是由什么構(gòu)成，符號受什么規(guī)律支配。因為這門科學(xué)還不存在，誰也說不出它將會是什么樣子，但是它有存在的權(quán)利，它的地位預(yù)先已經(jīng)確定了?！保ㄋ骶w爾，1985：38）,What is semiotics? To define the science, Saussure (1857-1913) coined

11、 the term semiology. When talking about the nature of language, he says: A language is a system of signs expressing ideas, and hence comparable to writing, the deaf-and-dumb alphabet, symbolic rites, forms of politeness, military signals, and so on. It is simply the most important of such systems. I

12、t is therefore possible to conceive of a science which studies the role of signs as part of social life. It would form part of social psychology, and hence of general psychology. We shall call it semiology. It would investigate the nature of signs and the laws governing them. Since it does not yet e

13、xist, one cannot say for certain that it will exist. But it has a right to exist, a place ready for it in advance. Linguistics is only one branch of this general science. (Saussure, 1972, 2001:15-16),符號學(xué)的發(fā)展（The Development of Semiotics)： “符號學(xué)作為一門獨立學(xué)科勃興于60年代的法國、美國以及前蘇聯(lián) 目前符號學(xué)正以強勁的發(fā)展勢頭向各個學(xué)科進(jìn)行滲透，對符號學(xué)的認(rèn)識

14、與運用整在形成一種科學(xué)大趨勢?！?王銘玉，2005) The person who actually developed semiotics into a science was an American philosopher Charles Peirce. In Charles Peirces opinion, semiotics is nothing but another name for logic(Guiraud, 1988：4). He claims: “ Logic, in its general sense, is, as I believe I have shown, onl

15、y another name for semiotic, the quasi-necessary, or formal, doctrine of signs” (Peirce, 1985) In Peirces view, the science of semiotics has three branches: pure grammar, logic proper, and pure rhetoric. Peirces definition is rather vague, but his categorizes of three branches are very clear.,Anothe

16、r American philosopher Charles Morris developed Peirces theory of sign further. He regarded semiotics as a comprehensive science about symbolization, which consists of aesthetics, cognitive sociology, and psychology. These subjects compose the practical section of semiotics, while semiotics plays a

17、role of “organizing science” for these subjects (Guiraud, 1988:6). According to Morris, semiotics is composed of three branches grammar, semantics, and pragmatics, on the basis of which he distinguishes the three dimensions of a sign semantic, syntactic and pragmatic. Corresponding to the three dime

18、nsions are his three categories of sign meanings, that is, linguistic meaning, referential meaning and pragmatic meaning respectively.,符號學(xué)與翻譯,符號學(xué)在翻譯研究中的應(yīng)用（the application of semiotics in translation study) Jakobson was the first person to apply linguistics and semiotics in the study of translation,

19、as Gorle (1994:17) claims that “Jakobson must be considered as the originator of the semiotic approach to translation”. In his essay On Linguistic Aspects of Translation published in 1959, Jakobson distinguished three kinds of translation: (1) Intralingual translation is an interpretation of verbal

20、signs by means of other signs of the same language; (2) Interlingual translation or translation proper is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of some other language; (3) Intersemiotic translation or transmutation is an interpretation of verbal signs by means of signs of nonverbal sign systems

21、. (Jakobson, 1959:233). Nida is regarded as the representative of the sociosemiotic approach to translation. There are also Chinese scholars taking the approach, such as Chen Hongwei, Keping, etc.,翻譯的符號學(xué)性質(zhì)The semiotic nature of translation：,Semiosis is a sign-process, that is, a process in which som

22、ething is a sign to some organism. It is a process in which signs are interpreted and in which meanings and functions of signs are realized. In this sense, translating is a semiosis, which interprets the source text to produce a translated text and the translator is the interpreter. Translated text

23、is the product of semiosis.,三種符號關(guān)系與相對應(yīng)的符號意義 Three sign relations and the corresponding meanings of the sign,Morris claimed that semiotics is composed of three parts: semantics, grammar, and pragmatics. Accordingly he categorizes three sign relations, namely semantic relation, grammatical relation an

24、d pragmatic relation. Semantic relation: The relation between the sign and its object; Grammatical relation: The relation between the signs; Pragmatic relation: The relation between the sign and the sign user. Corresponding to the three categories are three meanings of sign, that is, designative mea

25、ning, linguistic meaning, and pragmatic meaning respectively (Ke Ping 1993:20-31) .,Designative meaning: It represents the relation between the sign and the object it signifies including things and events in the objective and subjective worlds the sign describes. In most cases, designative meaning i

26、s the basic content of language signs and essential information they convey. Therefore, designative meaning is also termed as conceptual meaning or cognitive meaning (Ke Ping 1993:23). The designative meaning is closely related to literal meaning, but they are different in that literal meaning is th

27、e image aroused by the signs in human mind, while the designative meaning is the connection with the physical and psychological world reminded by the sign. In many cases literal meaning and designative meaning of words are the same, yet there are many times when they are greatly different. For example, a lucky dog, the designative meaning is a person who is lucky幸運的人/幸運兒, while the literal meaning is a dog that is luck