Table of Contents
Question 87
Which of the following is NOT a kind of ‘sign’ as suggested by Charles Sanders Peirce?
The American philosopher and founder of pragmatism, Charles Sanders Peirce, established the foundational triad of semiotics (the study of signs). He categorized signs into three types:
- Icon: A sign that structurally resembles what it signifies (e.g., a portrait, a cartoon).
- Index: A sign that has a direct, physical, or causal connection to what it signifies (e.g., smoke is an index of fire; footprints are an index of a person).
- Symbol: A sign where the relationship to what it signifies is entirely arbitrary and relies on learned cultural convention (e.g., words, alphabets, national flags).
"Visual" is a sensory medium, not one of Peirce's semiotic categories.
Question 88
Which among the following are true about the figures of speech?
A. Figures based on sound - Paronomasia
B. Figures based on construction - Zeugma
C. Figures based on Imagination - Irony
D. Figures based on Association - Chiasmus
E. Figures based on indirectness - Euphemism
Choose the correct answer from the options given below;
Categorizing rhetorical devices and figures of speech:
- (A) True: Paronomasia (puns) relies on words that sound similar but mean different things.
- (B) True: Zeugma is a figure of grammatical construction where one word (usually a verb) modifies two other words in different ways (e.g., "He lost his coat and his temper").
- (E) True: Euphemism is a figure of indirectness, replacing a harsh reality with a milder phrase (e.g., "passed away" instead of "died").
Why C and D are wrong: Irony is usually categorized under figures based on difference or contrast between appearance and reality (not imagination). Chiasmus (ABBA structure) is a figure based on grammatical arrangement/construction, not association (figures of association include Metonymy and Synecdoche).
Question 89
The Voyage and Travail of Sir John Mandeville were written in
The English translation of the wildly popular 14th-century travelogue, The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, was written in the Midland dialect.
Originally written in Anglo-Norman French (around 1356), it was swiftly translated into many languages. The English version was written in the East Midland dialect—the same dialect used by Geoffrey Chaucer. This dialect eventually became the foundation for standard Modern English because it was spoken in the vital geographic region containing London, Oxford, and Cambridge.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Semiotics?
Semiotics is the academic study of signs, symbols, and how meaning is created and communicated. It was founded independently by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (who focused on linguistics: signifier/signified) and the American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce (who focused on logic: icon/index/symbol).
What is the difference between an Index and a Symbol in Peirce's theory?
An Index has a direct, physical cause-and-effect relationship to its meaning (smoke means fire; a footprint means someone walked there). A Symbol has no physical connection to its meaning; the meaning is entirely made up by humans and must be learned (the word "Dog" does not look or sound like a real dog, we just agreed it means that).
What is Paronomasia?
Paronomasia is the formal rhetorical term for a pun. It is a play on words that exploits similar-sounding words with different meanings for a humorous or rhetorical effect.
Why is the East Midland Dialect historically important?
In Middle English, there were distinct regional dialects (Northern, Southern, Kentish, Midland). The East Midland dialect became the dominant ancestor of Standard Modern English because it was geographically situated between the North and South (making it a compromise dialect), and it was the dialect of London, the court, and the major universities (Oxford/Cambridge).
