In semiotics, the process of creating a message for transmission by the addresser to the addressee is called encoding. The act of interpreting the message by the addressee is called decoding. Semiotics is the study of signs, both individually and grouped in sign systems, and includes the study of how meaning is transmitted and understood. ... Process (lat. ... Message - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... In semiotics, the process of interpreting a message sent by the addresser to the addressee is called decoding. ...

Discussion

The process of message exchanges, or semiosis, is a key characteristic of human life depending on rule-governed and learned codes that, for the most part, unconsciously guide the communication of meaning between individuals. These interpretive frameworks or linking grids were termed "myths" by Roland Barthes (1915-1980) and pervade all aspects of culture from personal conversation to the mass media's output. Semiosis is a term introduced by Charles Peirce. ... In semiotics, the concept of a code is of fundamental importance. ... Meaning is studied in philosophy and linguistics. ... In metaphysics and statistics, the word individual, while sometimes meaning a person, more typically describes any numerically singular thing. ... Roland Barthes (November 12, 1915 – March 25, 1980) was a French literary critic, literary and social theorist, philosopher and semiotician. ... Look up Culture in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikinews has news related to this article: Culture and entertainment Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Cultural Development in Antiquity Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Culture and Civilization in Modern Times Classificatory system for cultures and civilizations, by Dr. Sam Vaknin...

Early theorists like Saussure (1857-1913) proposed the theory that when the addresser wishes to transmit a message to an addressee, the intended meaning must be converted into content so that it can be delivered. Roman Jakobson (1896-1982) offered a structuralist theory that the transmission and response would not sustain an efficient discourse unless the parties used the same codes in the appropriate social contexts. But, Barthes shifted the emphasis from the semiotics of language to the exploration of semiotics as language. Now, as David Chandler states, there is no such thing as an uncoded message: all experience is coded. So when the addresser is planning the particular message, both denotative and connotative meanings will already be attached to the range of signifiers relevant to the message. Within the broad framework of syntactic and semantic codes, the addresser will select signifiers that, in the particular context, will best represent his or her values and purposes. But the medium of communication is not necessarily neutral and the ability of the addressee to accurately decode the message may be affected by a number of factors. So the addresser must attempt to compensate for the known problems when constructing the final version of the message and hope that the preferred meanings will be identified when the message is received. One of the techniques is to structure the message so that certain aspects are given salience (sometimes called foregrounding) and predispose the audience to interpret the whole in the light of the particular. This relates to Gestalt psychology, Max Wertheimer (1880-1943) examined the factors that determine grouping in cognitive processes: Saussure Ferdinand de Saussure (November 26, 1857 - February 22, 1913) was a Swiss linguist. ... Roman Osipovich Jakobson (October 11, 1896 - July 18, 1982) was a Russian thinker who became one of the most influential linguists of the 20th century by pioneering the development of structural analysis of language, poetry, and art. ... See also structural analysis and structural functionalism. ... In semantics, discourses are linguistic units composed of several sentences - in other words, conversations, arguments or speeches. ... In semiotics, denotation is the surface or literal meaning encoded to a signifier, and the definition most likely to appear in a dictionary. ... In semiotics, connotation arises when the denotative relationship between a signifier and its signified is inadequate to serve the needs of the community. ... In linguistics, syntax is the study of the rules, or patterned relations, that govern the way the words in a sentence come together. ... In general, semantics (from the Greek semantikos, or significant meaning, derived from sema, sign) is the study of meaning, in some sense of that term. ... In semiotics, the value of a sign depends on its position and relations in the system of signification and upon the particular codes being used. ... Purpose is deliberately thought-through goal-directedness. ... Because too much data can cause “cognitive clutter”, individuals need a system to enable them to rank available data in terms of its immediate importance. ... An audience is the/a group of people who participate in and experience or encounter a work of art, literature, theatre, music or academics in any medium. ... Gestalt psychology (also: Gestalt theory of the Berlin School) is a psychological theory which provides a framework for a wide variety of psychological phenomena, processes, and applications. ... Max Wertheimer (Prague, April 15, 1880 - New York, October 12, 1943) was one of the founders of Gestalt psychology. ...

1. the fact of grouping signs together predisposes an uncritical audience to perceive the signs as similar;
2. the audience prefers closure, i.e. it prefers the experience to be as complete as possible and to see things as a whole even though no actual continuity or conclusion is implied; and
3. the audience prefers an everyman's version of Occam's Razor, i.e. the simplest explanations and solutions. In real life that means that assumptions, inferences and prejudices can often fill in gaps. If a conclusion seems to fit the available facts, other possibilities are not considered or are disregarded, producing the suggestion that humans conserve cognitive energy whenever they can and avoid thinking.

If an addresser is writing a speech, rhetorical tropes may be used to emphasise the elements that the audience is to focus upon and potentially perceive as predicating a particular conclusion. If images are to be selected, metonymy may indicate common associational values with the preferred meaning of the text. Occams Razor (also spelled Ockhams Razor), is a principle attributed to the 14th-century English logician and Franciscan friar, William of Ockham. ... Rhetoric (from Greek ρητωρ, rhêtôr, orator) is one of the three original liberal arts or trivium (the other members are dialectic and grammar). ... Another meaning of Trope is Jewish cantillation. ... In rhetoric and cognitive linguistics, metonymy (in Greek meta = after/later and onoma = name) is the use of a single characteristic to identify a more complex entity. ...

References

• Barthes, Roland. Elements of Semiology. (Translated by Annette Lavers & Colin Smith). London: Jonathan Cape. ([1964] 1967)
• Barthes, Roland. Mythologies. London: Paladin. (1972)
• Chandler, Daniel. Semiotics: The Basics. London: Routledge. (2002)