A symbol of the penis or more generally of power, which takes male forms; according to the writings of Jacques Lacan, the phallus is the signifier, that provokes everything that would overcome the lack felt by human subjects.
Semiology Glossary
Phaneroscopy
Charles S. Peirce's term used to denote a branch of the inquiry commonly referred to as phenomenology. Peirce takes this term from the Greek words phaneros and skopios. The main task of phaneroscopy is to find universal categories. For this reason, Peirce often...
Phatic Function
A communication function that determines the status or quality of the channel (contact) through which the message is transmitted. If someone stands in front of a microphone and says "Test: one, two, three", that person aims to determine the quality or condition of the...
Phenomenon, Phenomena
Appearance or the way things appear before us. The term phenomenon exists in opposition to noumenon - things as they are in themselves, no matter how they are presented to us or to any researcher. Phenomenon and noumenon are technical terms for appearance and reality,...
Phoneme
Phoneme is a sound unit. Phonemes are the smallest sound units in a language. Language, taken as a phonemic system, is studied by identifying the most basic units of sound (phonemes) and the many rules that govern the combinations of these units. In the twentieth...
Phonocentrism
Phonocentrism is the tendency to privilege spoken language, in other words, to make this form of language central, and in other forms (specifically written language or the language of inscriptions) to be marginalized or pushed into peripheral research. This dentition...
Phytosemiotics
Phytosemiotics is a branch of biosemiotics that studies the sign processes in plants, or more broadly, the vegetative semiosis. Vegetative semiosis is a type of sign process that occurs at the cellular and tissue level, including cellular recognition, plant...
The Pleasure of Text (le Plaisir du texte)
le Plaisir du texte is an expression used by the French semiotician Roland Barthes to denote the pleasure of the text. Sometimes it seems that this pleasure is constructed in erotic and even autoerotic terms. Related: Texts of Bliss
Play
In the works of Jacques Derrida and other deconstructivists, the theme of the game is extremely important. One of the forms that this importance takes is that of puns (word games). Another has to do with insisting on the importance of the signifiers' play (the claim...
Plot/Story
To learn more about the Plot/Story opposition please see Story/Plot. Related: Sjuzet (suzet, syuzhet)
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Dicent
A term proposed by Charles S. Peirce to denote a specific type of sign or sign function, namely, that roughly speaking, corresponding to the message. This sign is part of the triad or trichotomy: rheme, dicent, and argument. Peirce singles out this trichotomy in the...
Dichotomy
Two-element division or difference, used especially between mutually exclusive objects. While the trichotomy divides objects into trinities, the dichotomy divides them into pairs. Related: Dualism
Dicisign
A term used by Charles S. Peirce as a synonym for Dicent. Roughly speaking - a sign corresponding to a message in the context of its utterance.
Dictionary vs. Encyclopedia
Two different ways of explaining the meaning or content of sememes (the most basic units of meaning in the semiotic system, normally understood as language). The dictionary model is based on the assumption that there are a finite number of sememes in which all other...
Différance
A word used by Jacques Derrida as part of his critique of phonocentrism and the metaphysics of presence. It is a playful word because it plays with two meanings of differ (to differ and to defer). In addition, the word itself shows the dependence of speech on...
Free Course in Semiology
A completely and truly free course on Semiology (Semiotics). Learn about the meaning of signs, how and why did the field emerged. What is the relationship between the street signs and the signs that we use every day - words.
