Index (semiotics)

Index is a technical term ( term ) of the theory of signs ( semiotics ), which designates a sign , the character of which consists of a direct, physical indicative relationship between it and what is designated. Usually this is a causal connection. An index is thus a symbol that has a temporal and spatial reference to its referent .

As synonyms are u. a. Note, note marks, index marks and signs are used. One speaks of an “indexical sign” partly in the sense of an index, partly in the sense of expressions that “only receive a clear reference through the context of the utterance” (see indicator (linguistics) ). In the terminology of Charles Sanders Peirce , the index is to be distinguished from the symbol (which is a sign [only] on the basis of convention) and the icon (a sign based on similarity): “An index is a sign whose character-constitutive quality is a second nature or an existential relation to its object. An index therefore requires that its object and itself must have individual existence. It becomes a sign by chance that it is conceived in this way, a circumstance that does not affect the quality that makes it a sign ”.

A distinction is made between "natural indices", which have a natural cause-and-effect relationship to their referent (e.g. smoke as an indication of fire) and "artificial indices", in which the connection between the sign ( signifier , representative name ) and the speaker is generated by the respective communication situation and for which, regardless of this specific communication situation, it is not understandable what the index refers to (e.g. bookmark in a book; the pronoun "this"). Sometimes only the former are referred to as an index.

If indices are not intended (e.g. smoke), they are also compared with the real characters (symbol, icon). and designated as spurious signs or not recognized as signs. For recognition as a sign, it is stated that in the field of fashion, human behavior / self-giving, it is practically impossible to distinguish between intended and unintended signals. Insofar as indexical signs are not based on an intention to communicate, they are opposed to communicative signs (icons, symbols). Every behavior can be interpreted indexically.

See also

• symbol
• icon

Web links

Wiktionary: Index  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Jürgen Trabant (arr.): Semiotics. Fink, Paderborn 1996, p. 22.
2. ^ Ansgar Beckermann: Introduction to logic. 2nd Edition. de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2003, p. 15.
3. ^ Charles S. Peirce: Phenomenon and Logic of Signs. 2nd Edition. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 1993, p. 65.
4. ↑ Piroska Kocsány: Basic Linguistics course: a workbook for beginners. Fink, Paderborn 2010, p. 42.
5. ^ Angelika Linke, Markus Nussbaumer, Paul R. Portmann: Study book linguistics. 5th edition. Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tübingen 2004, p. 21.
6. ^ Søren Kjørup: Semiotics. W. Fink, Paderborn 2009, p. 7 f.
7. ↑ Helmut Rehbock: Index. In: Helmut Glück (Hrsg.): Metzler Lexikon Sprache. 4th edition. Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2010.