Semiotic systems

If it were just a case of each semiotic system having its own writing system, we could design a separate system to process each. The problem arises because frequently we mix these systems in the same signal and using the same characters to do so. For example, in the above text, we saw the sentence 

To the best of our knowledge, the first writing system was that of Siuner, which developed into Cuneiform. Perhaps the best-known early writing system is the hieroglyphic writing of the Ancient Egyptians, although it is not entirely clear whether these two 

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A semiotic system has three levels of representation meaning, form, and signal. 

Text classification with respect to semiotic systems... 

As we explained, it is a mistake to think that text is simply or always an encoding of natural language. Rather, we should see text as a common physical signal that can be used to encode many different semiotic systems, of which natural language is just one (rather special) case. 

Analyse each token to find its underlying form. Apart from the case of natural language, this is often quite easy as the semiotic systems are cultural inventions and have been designed to be easy to understand. 

Not all writing encodes linguistic messages, it is used to encode messages in many other semiotic systems also. 

So it is important to have a good knowledge of the application area in order to ensure a good and accurate coverage of the type of semiotic systems that will be encountered. 

Recall that natural language is a discrete symbolic semiotic system. In this system we combine words in different ways to produce a near limitless number of sentences, each with a separate... 

Markley (1993) critiques both the method and the scope of these studies because, he claims, re.searchers have focused on the contested area where science seeks to write out of existence the knowledge claims of competing accounts of representation and reality (p. 19). As a result, sociologists of science have not explored the ways in which scientific discourses are interpenetrated by the very semiotic systems. . . that they appropriate and seek to de-legitimize (p. 18). His work suggests that researchers must investigate the ways that competing representations of reality affect the discourses of science. 

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