Overlapping of the semiotics in the fields of linguistics and architecture: A relational analysis approach

Abstract

 Semiotics is a way of finding meanings by examining the relationships between signified, signifier, and text. Semiotics can be used intentionally in architecture to convey meanings through form, which is perceived differently by the user’s experience. Since influencing the user’s experience is the way to enhance the mutual connection between architecture and users, semiotics is significant in architecture. Given this importance, no comparison has been studied between the linkage of these two fields. Therefore, this research is required. The purpose is to discover the differentiation of the existing relationships between these two fields based on this question: “What relationship can be affirmed from the texts that have been written in the field of linguistics and architecture with the similar keyword (semiotics/semiology)?” To achieve this, the relational analysis method is needed which is a subcategory of qualitative content analysis. In this regard, 53 articles from 2005 to 2020 within the “Science Direct” source website are used as the population interest of this research. Afterward, 16 samples are selected by the snowball sampling method for depicting cognitive mappings. Thus, after finding the concepts by snowball sampling, the relationships between them are defined as codes. Results showed that six types of relationships exist among the concepts. These codes are used as a reagent indicator of the relationship types and are depicted in the suggested cognitive mapping.