Barthes- An influential French philosopher and literary critic, who explored social theory, anthropology and semiotics, the science of symbols, and studied their impact on society

Pierce- American philosopher, logician, mathematician, and scientist

Saussure- A Swiss linguist and semiotician

Semiotics- The study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation

Sign- Something that signifies something else 

Signifier- A sign’s physical form (such as a sound, printed word, or image) as distinct from its meaning (Saussure)

Signified- The meaning or idea expressed by a sign

Icon- Person or thing regarded as a representative symbol

Index- A sign that has a link to its object 

Symbol- Thing that represents or stands for something else

Code-  A system of words, letters, figures, or symbols used to represent others

Dominant Signifier- Main accepted meaning of sign 

Anchorage- Words “pin down” the meaning of an image 

Ideology- Set of opinions or beliefs by an individual or group

Syntagm- A set of linguistic forms that are in a relationship to one another

Paradigm– A typical example or pattern of something; a pattern or model

Signification- The representation or conveying of meaning

Denotation- The literal or primary meaning of a word (Barthes)

Connotation- An idea or feeling which a word invokes for a person in addition to its literal or primary meaning

Myth- A widely held but false belief or idea

A Radical test– Text that challenges dominant ideology

A Reactionary test– Text that supports the dominant ideology