Definition
The semiotic square is a conceptual tool that was first developed within the field of semiotics to depict the logical relations of opposition and implication inherent in any given sign or sign system. It has more recently been refashioned for use in the study of the evolution of language.
Introduction
The Semiotic Square is an analytic tool developed by linguist and semiotician Algirdas Julien Greimas (1917–1962) to depict how complex, nuanced, and even contradictory meanings can emerge from more primitive sets of oppositions (e.g., prescribed/forbidden) and their logical negations (e.g., not prescribed/not forbidden) in any given sign or sign system.
A graphic representation of the “possibility space of meaning” bounded by the four corners of opposition and implication as depicted below, the semiotic square is intended by Greimas to reveal “the elementary structure” of signification whereby terms and values are defined at least in part with respect to what they are not...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Felluga, D. F. (2015). Critical theory: The key concepts. London: Routledge.
Galantucci, B., & Steels, L. (2008). The emergence of embodied communication in artificial agents and humans. In I. Wachsmuth, M. Lenzen, & G. Knoblich (Eds.), Embodied communication in humans and machines. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Greimas, A. J. ([1966] 1983). Structural semantics. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Greimas, A. J., & Rastier, F. (1968). The interaction of semiotic constraints. Yale French Studies, 41, 86–105.
Jameson, F. (1976). Foreword. In A. J. Greimas (Ed.), On meaning: Selected writings in semiotic theory (pp. vi–xxii). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
Steels, L. (2004). The evolution of communication systems by adaptive agents. In E. Alonso, D. Kudenko, & D. Kazakov (Eds.), Adaptive agents and multi-agent systems (pp. 125–140). Berlin: Springer.
Steels, L. (2006). How to do experiments in artificial language evolution and why. In A. Cangelosi, A. D. M. Smith, & K. Smith (Eds.), The evolution of language (pp. 323–322). Singapore: World Scientific Publishing.
Steels, L. (2011). Modeling the cultural evolution of language. Physics of Life Reviews, 8, 339–356.
Steels, L. (2015). The talking heads experiment: Origins of words and meanings, Computational models of language evolution (Vol. 1). Berlin: Language Science Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Favareau, D. (2018). Semiotic Square. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3831-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_3831-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences