Signifiers, according to Griffin (2009, p.324), is the physical form of the sign as people perceive it through their five senses, which is sight, smell, touch, taste and sound. While signified is "the meaning we associate with sign." (Griffin, 2009, p.324). In other words is the mental image created from the signifier. A signifier doesn't have one signified but has a lot. When both of the signifier and signified, a sign is formed. There's three types of signs; Symbolic, Indexical and Iconic. According to Lester (1995, p.63), Iconic signs are the easiest to interpret due to the fact that this type of symbols closely resembles the thing they are represent. Indexical signs "have a logical,commonsense connection to the thing or idea they represent rather than a direct resemblance to the object." (Lester, 1995, p.63). Lester (1995, p.64), stated that Symbolic signs are the most abstract, cause they have no logical or representational connection with the thing that they are representing.
There's rules that is use to interpret signs. This rules are agreed upon by a community, and this rules are called codes. The absent of the knowledge of this code will cause the interpretation of the sign not to be understand by others. Denotation, according to Chandler (2002, p.140), is the defitional, literal, obvious or commonsense of a sign. In other words Denotation is the literal description of the signifier or sign. Connotation is the representation and concept of the sign, where it's a metaphors or a way to conceptualize something.
In semiotics, there's anchorage, where it's a very powerful semiotic tool that shapes how people view and see things. The use of anchorage is to "anchor" the meaning of the sign so that it has only a specific interpretation is favored, without this the interpretation of the sign/image could go in any direction.
Tutorial Question: Provide example of signifiers, signified and connotation.
The above picture is an example for signifier and signified, the signifiers are the word symmetry, rotate, tyrant, monotonous and shutter. The signified is the images, for example symmetery is the signifier and the signified is the reflection of the word symmetry and the tyrant is signified with big "T" which means that the "T" is a dictator.
The picture above is the same picture from the previous post on Seeing and Perception. The reason why I chose this picture again is Perceiving and Connoting are almost the same. The denotation of the animal is an elephant, but the people who are touching, which is one of the signifiers, are connoting it differently. The reason is that, they are using only one signifiers, which is the sense of touch. Therefore they are connoting it differently. One touches the trunk of the elephant and connoting it as a snake, one is touching the big body or the elephant and connoting it as a giant brick wall and one touches the tail of the elephant and connoting it as a rope.
References
Chandler, D. (2002). Semiotics: The Basics. New York: Routledge.
Griffin, E. (2009). A first look at communication theory (7th ed). Glencoe, IL: McGraw Hill
Inkip, C., MacFarlane, A. & Rafferty, P. (2008). Meaning, Communication, Music: towards a revised communication model. Journal of Documentation, 64(5), 693.
Lester, P. M. (1995). Visual Communicaion: Images with Message. United States of America: Wadsworth Publishing.
A very well written section. Good work. But your understanding of "connotation" is not accurate. Their perception is a representation of what they feel. They are creating a mental image of what they touch, which is similar to what they see if they had eyes. It's just a sign that is forming in their heads, not a mental concept.
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