Symbols in Communication Essays - Semiotics, Charles Sanders Peirce

Symbols in Communication Essays - Semiotics, Charles Sanders Peirce Symbols in Communication Symbols can represent communication and as such are a form of language.Are humans truly the only primates that can understand language ? Can other species talk? Chimpanzees are competent in learning a basic form of language and can constructively express their ideas. Some scientists believe that one day these primates will be able to communicate masterfully through the use of signs and symbols. In our awareness of the chimpanzee?s inability to speak vocally, should we also exclude the from independent symbol creation? (Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology. 9th ed. Nolan, Lenski, p. 15) To begin examining the origin of the use of symbols as a form of communication, one must look back in history almost 6000 years. Limestone tablets dated back to 3500 B.C. were found to bear some of the oldest known writing. On each tablet are symbols for head, hand, foot, threshing sledge, and several numerals. (Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology. 9th ed. Patrick Nolan, Gerhard Lenski, p. 34) Although humans began writing structured messages as early as 6000 B.C., the actual use of symbols dates back almost 40,000 years ago.But what is language and what is communication and how does it works ? Verbal communication is far from the only form. First of all, a sign is something we directly encounter, yet at the same time it refers to something else. Thunder is a sign of rain. A punch in the nose is a sign of anger. An arrow is a sign of whatever it points toward.On the other hand, words are also signs, but of a special kind. In some way, they are symbols too. Unlike the example cited above, most symbols have no natural connection with the things they describe. There?s nothing in the sound of the word kiss or anything visual in the letters h-u-g that signifies an embrace. One could just as easily coin the term snarf or clag to symbolize a close encounter of the romantic kind. In our current world over 6500 various languages exist however when one smiles, the meaning is universal. Symbols hold incredible importance in global communication. So as coming for symbols, they are representations of an event, action, object, person, or place that can be used to communicate about the event, action, object, person, or place. Language is a code and every decoding is another encoding.In most essential way, symbols are something stand for something other than what it actually is.Symbols are more complex in their meaning and complex in what they evoke.Complex symbols corporate a mass of values, emotions, judgements and can be particularly powerful and explosive such as a flag or religious item.In some countries you can punished hard for burning a flag.Another example, if we burn a quran in Tibet, it means nothing however, if we burn it in Middle East, it will be quite explosive and serious.So symbols also actually depends where they are and for what they stand. Symbols can be used for both receptive and expressive communication. Objects, parts of objects, pictures, print, actions, gestures, signs, and speech can all be symbols. Symbols may start as cues and signals. If a child recognizes a cue out of context, that cue may be acting as a symbol. If a child uses a signal or an object cue to communicate about an event, action, object, person or place out of context, the child may be using that signal or cue as a symbol, as talking for humans.Maybe the most important thing thing about the symbols is The more a symbol resembles what it represents, the more concrete that symbol is. The less a symbol resembles what it represents, the more abstract that symbol is. Symbols in communication is important because not only human use it but also animals use it to communicate and in some cases well than human. In referring to our evolutionary brothers, the chimpanzees, we are not all that different. In fact, we share almost 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees. So one is forced to question why we have evolved so rapidly while our primate duplicate remains both primitive and indecisive in their societal structure.Maybe, the main question about communication and language is, as expressed