In writing, signs are used to facilitate the understanding of texts.
The word sign derives from the Latin word signum . It is a term that describes an element, phenomenon or material action that, by convention or nature, serves to represent or replace another . A sign is also something that gives clues or signs of a certain thing ( "The president blushed, a sign of his shame" ) and a figure that is used in writing and printing.
Starting from this meaning in which sign is synonymous with a sample or indication of a certain issue, it must be emphasized that this term is frequently used in the police field. An example of this that we are exposing could be the following: “The corpse had signs of violence, which made it clear that the murderer and the victim had confronted each other before her death.”
Linguistic marks, punctuation and diacritics
A sign of a linguistic nature is a reality that can be perceived by one or more human senses and that refers to another real plane that is not present. It is composed of a signifier , a signified and a referent , inseparably linked by signification .
Punctuation marks are, on the other hand, tools typical of Western writing that emerged with the purpose of making texts easier to understand. They are usually used to indicate pauses. Since writing is a form of communication that involves a linear construction, punctuation marks allow ideas to be separated, prioritized and put in order.
In this framework, it is also interesting to keep in mind the characteristics of diacritics , graphic signs that give considerable value to written signs. Spelling accents, the umlaut and the tilde of the ñ, for example, are some of the diacritics.
The concept in mathematics and medicine
In the same way, we cannot ignore the signs that are used in the field of mathematics and that are fundamental when developing them. Specifically, we must highlight the plus and minus signs to perform additions and subtractions, or the signs of a number that determine whether it is positive or negative.
For medicine , on the other hand, a clinical sign is any specific manifestation that can be associated with a disease or disorder that alters health . In this way, the disease becomes noticeable in the biology of the person who has contracted it.
Zodiac signs are linked to the position of the sun at the time of a person's birth.
The notion in cinemas and the zodiac signs
In the cinematographic field, the term in question has also been given a lot of prominence in films such as, for example, The Six Signs of Light . In 2007, this production, directed by David L. Cunnigham and starring Alexander Ludwig, Christopher Eccleston and Frances Conroy, premiered worldwide.
Specifically, this film, inspired by the novel The Dark is Rising by the writer Susan Cooper, tells us the story of a young man (Will Stanton) who discovers one day that he is the last of a series of immortal warriors who have as mission to fight against the different forces of evil to prevent the world from falling into their clutches.
Finally, it is worth mentioning the zodiac signs , which indicate the place in the zodiac where the Sun is ascendant at the time of a person's birth. The traditional Western signs are twelve.