The semiotic square, also known as the Greimas square, is a tool used in structural analysis of the relationships between semiotic signs through the opposition of concepts, such as feminine-masculine or beautiful-ugly, and of extending the relevant ontology.
The semiotic square, derived from Aristotle's logical square of opposition, was developed by Algirdas J. Greimas, a Lithuanian- French linguist and semiotician, who considered the semiotic square to be the elementary structure of meaning.
Greimas first presented the square in Semantique Structurale (1966), a book which was later published as Structural Semantics: An Attempt at a Method (1983). He further developed the semiotic square with Francois Rastier in "The Interaction of Semiotic Constraints" (1968).
The Greimas square is a model based on relationships:
Structure | Relationship Type | Relationship Elements |
---|---|---|
Complex | Contrary | S1 + S2 |
Neutral | Contrary | ~S2 + ~S1 |
Schema 1 | Contradiction | S1 + ~S1 |
Schema 2 | Contradiction | S2 + ~S2 |
Deixes 1 | Implication | ~S2 + S1 |
Deixes 2 | Implication | ~S1 + S2 |
Starting from a given opposition of concepts S1 and S2, the semiotic square entails first the existence of two other concepts, namely ~S1 and ~S2, which are in the following relationships:
The semiotic square also produces, second, so-called meta-concepts, which are compound ones, the most important of which are:
For example, from the pair of opposite concepts masculine-feminine, we get:
The Greimas square is a tool used within the system of semiotics.
The semiotic square has been used to analyze and interpret a variety of topics, including corporate language, [2] the discourse of science studies as cultural studies, [3] the fable of Little Red Riding Hood, [4] narration, [5] and print advertising. [6]
The semiotic square, also known as the Greimas square, is a tool used in structural analysis of the relationships between semiotic signs through the opposition of concepts, such as feminine-masculine or beautiful-ugly, and of extending the relevant ontology.
The semiotic square, derived from Aristotle's logical square of opposition, was developed by Algirdas J. Greimas, a Lithuanian- French linguist and semiotician, who considered the semiotic square to be the elementary structure of meaning.
Greimas first presented the square in Semantique Structurale (1966), a book which was later published as Structural Semantics: An Attempt at a Method (1983). He further developed the semiotic square with Francois Rastier in "The Interaction of Semiotic Constraints" (1968).
The Greimas square is a model based on relationships:
Structure | Relationship Type | Relationship Elements |
---|---|---|
Complex | Contrary | S1 + S2 |
Neutral | Contrary | ~S2 + ~S1 |
Schema 1 | Contradiction | S1 + ~S1 |
Schema 2 | Contradiction | S2 + ~S2 |
Deixes 1 | Implication | ~S2 + S1 |
Deixes 2 | Implication | ~S1 + S2 |
Starting from a given opposition of concepts S1 and S2, the semiotic square entails first the existence of two other concepts, namely ~S1 and ~S2, which are in the following relationships:
The semiotic square also produces, second, so-called meta-concepts, which are compound ones, the most important of which are:
For example, from the pair of opposite concepts masculine-feminine, we get:
The Greimas square is a tool used within the system of semiotics.
The semiotic square has been used to analyze and interpret a variety of topics, including corporate language, [2] the discourse of science studies as cultural studies, [3] the fable of Little Red Riding Hood, [4] narration, [5] and print advertising. [6]