CRMtex Updates CIDOC CRM and the semiotic theory in text study

1. CRMtex UpdatesCIDOC CRM and the semiotic theory in text study Achille Felicetti* – Francesca Murano** *PIN, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy **DILEF, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy

2. Linguistics and CIDOC CRM • Proposal for a specialization of the conceptual and symbolic sections involved in the writing/reading processes

3. Semiotic foundations of language • From a semiotic point of view, languages (both natural and artificial) are codes, e.g. systems of signs (systems of correspondences between expression and content) where an expression stands for a content • How the communication happens? • A sender encodes (assigns a content) to an appropriate expression • A receiver decodes (identifies the content starting from the expression) • A code is a set of conventions used to communicate meaning

4. Secondary codes • In secondary codes the expression of a primary code becomes the content • (code 1) expression ~ content • (code 2) expression ~ content

5. Secondary codes

6. Secondary codes

7. Linguistics and CIDOC CRM • In languages using phonographic writing systems, writing reproduces the phonic chain and becomes a secondary code in respect of the primary linguistic code that codifies human thought • A different situation occurs with non-phonographic writing systems, where writing is language independent and directly codifies human thought

8. Linguistics and CIDOC CRM • How communication works: • Humans think the message they want to communicate • Humans decide which language to use for communication (including lexical items and morpho-syntactical and pragmatic rules, from which the phonemes derive) • E.g., can be expressed in English as “No smoking”, “Please do not smoke”, “Smoking is prohibited” … • This phase corresponds to the langue of Ferdinand de Saussure’s theory, but also to the competence of Noam Chomsky theory • Humans perform their message by pronouncing the sounds composing the message (phones) (FdS parole; NC performance) • In case of writing (using a phonographic writing system) • Humans think the signs to be used to render the phonemes (graphemes) (conceptual operation) • Humans perform the operation of writing the signs corresponding to the graphemes (glyphs)

9. Some issues • Actually it is necessary to distinguish between the conceptual part of the language (langue ~ competence) and its material part (parole ~ performance) • Concerning the writing, in CRMtex we proposed to distinguish between E90 Symbolic Object (graphemes) and TX1 Written Text (glyphs) • In the same way, regarding the speaking, it would be necessary to distinguish between phonemes and phones

10. Proposals • In Linguistics the concept of Linguistic Sign is in fact paramount • We propose the creation of TX8 Linguistic sign (subclass of E28 Conceptual Object), defined according with Saussure, as • A dyadic sign composed of signifier (signifiant) and signified (signifié), intended as single and not separable entity • Signifier: mental entity composed of the set of phonetic elements that are associated with a meaning (signified); it remains a mental phenomenon until a physical manifestation of it is created through sounds, written signs or gestures • Signified: meaning (mental concept)

11. Le signe linguistique unit non une chose et un nom, mais un concept [scil. signifié] et une image acoustique [scil. signifiant] . Cette dernière n’est pas le son matériel, chose purement physique, mais l'empreinte psychique de ce son, la représentation que nous en donne le témoignage de nos sens; elle est sensorielle […] Ces deux éléments sont intimement unis et s’appellent l’un l’autre. [The linguistic sign unites, not a thing and a name, but a concept [scil. signified] and a sound-image [scil. signifier] .The latter is not the material sound, purely physical thing, but the psychological imprint of the sound, the impression that it makes on our senses. The sound-image is sensory […] The two elements are intimately united, and each recalls the other. Ferdinand de Saussure CLG, 98-99

12. La langue et l'écriture sont deux systèmes de signes, dont l'un a pour mission uniquement de representer l'autre. Il semblerait que leur valeur respective et réciproque ne court pas de risque d'être méconnue, l'une n'est que la servante ou l'image de l’autre. [Language and writing are two systems of signs, one having the sole function of representing the other. It might appear that the respective and mutual values run no risk of being misunderstood: one is only the servant or the image of the other.] Ferdinand de Saussure III-CLG/C, f. 74

13. Linguistics and CIDOC CRM

14. Linguistics and CIDOC CRM

15. Linguistics and CIDOC CRM • Corresponding CIDOC CRM classes: • Humans think the message  E28 Conceptual Object • Humans decide the language  TX8 Linguistic Sign (new) • Humans pronounce the message (phones)  E33 Linguistic Object • In case of writing • Humans think the signs corresponding to the phonemes (graphemes)  E90 Symbolic Object • Humans write the signs (glyphs)  TX1 Written Text

16. A proposal

17. Linguistics and CIDOC CRM

18. Proposals • From the linguistic perspective, the classification of E56 Language as sub-class of E55 Type is inconsistent • E56 Language as langue (linguistic system) should fall under the conceptual object and better specialized • The TX8 Linguistic sign being composed of the union of signified and signifier, we have to deal with the signifier’s phonetic aspect (phonemes, mental representation of phones) • We use the E90 Symbolic Object to represent the phonemes (as for the graphemes, that are their abstract graphic representation)

19. Thank you • Achille Felicetti • PIN, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy • achille.felicetti@pin.unifi.it

20. Linguistics and CIDOC CRM • How communication works: • Humans think the message they want to communicate • Humans decide which language to use for communication (including lexical items and morphosyntactical and pragmatic rules) • E.g., can be expressed in English as “No smoking”, “Please do not smoke”, “Smoking is prohibited” … • This phase corresponds to the langue of Ferdinand de Saussure’s theory, but also to the competence of Noam Chomsky theory • Humans perform their message by using different media (voice, writing, …) • Humans think to the sounds to be used (phonemes) • Humans pronounces the sound in order to perform the message (phones) (FdS parole; NC performance) • In case of writing, humans codify the phonetic chain using a given writing system (in case the use a phonographic writing system) • Humans think the signs to be used to render the phonemes (graphemes) • Humans writes the signs corresponding to the graphemes (glyphs)

21. Text and Writing

22. Proposals • It is useful to create subclasses of E90 Symbolic object, on the base of semiotic nature of its instances. • According to FdS and Peirce, regarding the sign's way of denoting its object, we propose the following distinction: • Icons: conventional signs that resembles what it `stands for’ in the reality • The icon of a women on the ladies’ toilet door or the no-smoking sign • Symbols: signs with a higher degree of conventionality and arbitrariness • The use of a green light allowing traffic to proceed or the restricted parking zone • Linguistic sign: dyadic sign composed of signifier (signifiant) and signified (signifié), intended as single and not separable entity