- Linguistics is the scientific study of natural language. Semiotics, by contrast, is the scientific study of any kind of symbolic system, whether natural or artificial, whether verbal or not.
- A symbolic system is a system of “things standing for other things.”
- Words aren’t the only kind of symbol, of course. Even the visual conventions of manga and anime count as symbols (e.g., 💢).
- Ultimately, a language is a system of categorization “externalized” phonologically, orthographically, or cherologically—among other possibilities. The system of categorization can be abstracted out because the word forms, whether phonological or any other kind, are incidental to the system of categorization.
- The internal categorizational system (of a given individual) can be more or less matched up with the external categorizational system (of a given group).
- I’d like to take my internal categorizational system, which is so different than the external categorizational systems (e.g., English, Japanese, logical and mathematical notation), and externalize it.
- “Cat” and 猫 are both associated with the same set. Ceteris paribus, saying “there’s a cat right there 👉” would establish joint attention on the same referent as saying そこは猫がいるよ👉.
Linguistics, semiotics, and externalization
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