多模态话语中符号意义构成研究

Research on the Sign-Meaning Formation in Multimodal Discourse

本文致力于对多模态话语中符号意义的构成进行研究,首先探讨了基于供用特征、话语实践和符号世界三个视角的符号意义的研究,以及从符号世界四个层次的现象域对符号意义及其来源的研究;然后探讨了符号意义、符号系统的生成及其过程;接着,探讨了符号不同意义特征的功能;最后讨论了不同类型的符号在多模态话语建构中的不同作用。本研究发现:1)对符号的供用特征进行研究,应该主要探讨符号的实体是如何符号化成为“意义潜势”的;2)任何符号,无论它派生于哪个层次的符号世界的现象域,其意义都是符号意义,但派生于不同层次的意义具有不同的特征;3)符号的意义一般通过:(1)给物体赋义,(2)使符义延伸,(3)符号借代,(4)符号创新等四种方式生成;4)符号意义的生成过程包括通过从上到下,从意义到实体的选择过程,和从下到上的符号识别和规约化过程;5)派生于不同符号世界现象域的符号可在多模态话语模态配置中具有不同的功能。本研究将会对多模态话语建构中符号的选择以及认识每个符号的意义特征具有一定启示。

This article is devoted to the study of the formation of the meaning of the sign in multimodal discourse.Firstly,it surveys the studies on the meaning of the sign and its origin in the field of semiotics from the perspectives of affordances,discourse practice and the theory of the four levels of the phenomenal domains in the world of semiotics.Then it studies the generation of the meaning of the sign and its semiotic system.Thirdly,it investigates the function of the different features of the sign.Finally,it discusses the roles of different types of signs in the construction of multimodal discourse,as well as the synergy and cooperation between them.It is found that:1)The affordances of the sign should be studied from the perspective of how the material entity of the sign is semiotized and becomes“meaning potential”;2)Any sign,no matter from what level of the phenomenal domains in the world of semiotics it is derived,its meaning is semiotic in nature,only that the meanings derived from different levels of the phenomenal domains in the world of semiotics have different characteristics;3)The meaning of the sign is generated by ways of:①attributing meaning to objects,②extending the semantic domain of the sign,③semiotic borrowing,and④creating new signs;4)The process of generation of the meaning of the sign includes the choice proceeding from top to bottom,i.e.,from meaning to entity,and the recognition and conventionalization of the sign proceeding from bottom to top;5)The signs derived from the different phenomenal domains in the world of semiotics have different functions in the synergy and integration of signs in multimodal discourse.This research can shed some light on the choice of signs in multimodal discourse construction and the understanding of the semantic characteristics of the sign.