Core definition The study of signs and sign systems and how they both represent and create meaning. Longer explanation What do the letters p-i-g stand for? A pig, of course. But for those into semiotics, there's no ‘of course’ about it. A semiotician would go beyond the surface and point out a number of things we generally take for granted, like why the letters p-i-g are the designated ‘signifier’ of that fat, four-legged, pink animal (the signified), rather than any other string of arbitrary letters. They'd also point to the variability of the signified. For example, the word ‘pig’ could conjure up an image of a dangerous wild boar, but it might also trigger an image of fat dirty farmyard beast or a famous cartoon pig like Porky, Wilbur or Babe. Semioticians would also suggest that the letters p-i-g can stand for more than just an animal; it can also stand for deeper and more abstract concepts like gluttony or boorishness. Semiotics therefore looks at the whole concept of signs and…