Commercial Shop Signs in Mafraq City: a Cognitive Semiotic Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18533/jah.v10i12.2221Keywords:
Key words: cognitive semiotics, commercial shop signs, connotation, denotation, Charles Peirce, Ferdinand de Saussure.Abstract
Abstract
Drawing cognitive semiotic premises, this study aims to investigate the impact of visual images and verbal expressions. used in commercial shop signs in Mafraq city in Jordan, on clients and to show how such shop signs semiotically behave in accordance with their sociocultural contex. Therefore, the researchers investigate the procedures and the mechanism of designing and using these signs in light of the fundamental assumptions of semiotic models of sign interpretation; namely, Ferdinand de Saussure's dyadic approach and Charles Pierce's triadic models with relevance to connotative and denotative meaning dichotomy proposed by Barthe (1987). The data of the study were collected representing 200 shop signs selected from four main shopping streets in Mafraq city, in addition to some interviews with shop owners. Findings revealed that Arabic and English are widely used and purposefully distributed in these shop signs, the content of which includes religious names, family names, geographical places, planets, animals, etc. Furthermore, this study revealed how the visual and verbal signs employed by these shop owners convey two basic levels of meaning, i.e. the denotatively literal meaning and the connotatively non-literal meaning. Consequently, the researchers concluded that through the signs of these shops how Jordanian society is tribally-oriented and how Jordanians are proud of their family names for various socio-cultural motivations. The results the researchers found showed that the shop owner's educational and economical levels, religion, nationality, beliefs, gender, values, social and cultural factors do affect their choices while naming their shops. Finally, conclusions have been set and recommendations have been provided for relevant future research.
Key words: cognitive semiotics, commercial shop signs, connotation, denotation, Charles Peirce, Ferdinand de Saussure.
References
References
Abed-el-Jawad, H., (1986). A linguistic and sociocultural study of personal names in Jordan. Anthropological Linguistics.28, (1). 80-94.
Al-Khazalleh, Rabeaa. (2020). Commercial Shop Signs in Mafraq City: a Cognitive Semiotic Perspective. Unpublished MA Thesis. Jordan: AABU.
Al-Mousa, Lamya. (2012). A Linguistic study of shop signs in Kuwait. Unpublished MA Thesis, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
Al-Zubaidi, N. A., & Abdullah, M. F. (2018). Semiotics across Cultures: An Analysis of Shop Signs in American and Iraqi Contexts. Al-Adab Journal, (124) 31-48.?
Dimova, S. (2007). English shop signs in Macedonia. English Today, 81-91.
Elyasin, &Mahadin, R. S. (1996). On the pragmatics of shop signs in Jordan. Journal of Pragmatics. 407-416, (3)26.
Hussein, R. F., Nofal, M. Y., & Mansour, A. J. (2015). The language of shop signs in Amman: A sociolinguistic study. International Journal of Educational Research and Reviews,3(2), 155-164.?
Johansen, J. D., & Larsen, S. E. (2002). Signs in Use: an Introduction to Semiotics. Psychology Press.?
Mendelson, A. L. (2004). For whom is a picture worth a thousand words? Effects of the visualizing cognitive style and attention on processing of news photos. Journal of Visual Literacy. 22-1, (1)24.
Peirce, Charles Sanders. (1931-1958). Collected Writings (8 Vols.). (Ed. Charles Hartshorne, Paul Weiss & Arthur W Burks). Cambridge/Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Petrilli, Susan, and Ponzio, Augusto. (2005). Semiotics Unbounded: Interpretive Routes through the Open Network of Signs. Buffalo, Toronto: University of Toronto Pres.
Pinker, Steven. (1997). How the Mind Works. New York: Norton.
Saussure, F. D. (1983). Course in general linguistics, trans. London: Harris R. Duckworth
Sebeok, T. A. (2001). Signs: An introduction to Semiotics. University of Toronto Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Bassel Al Bzour, Dr
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
