The triangle of reference (also known as the triangle of meaning and the semiotic triangle) is a model of how linguistic symbols are related to the objects they represent. [1] The triangle was published in 📝The Meaning of Meaning (1923) by Ogden and Richards. However, the triangle can be traced back to the 4th century BC, in Aristotle's Peri Hermeneias. The triangle describes the relationship between the speaker (📝Subject), a concept (📝Object), and its designation (symbol).
The relations between the triangular corners may be phrased in causal terms:
- The matter evokes the writer's thought.
- The writer refers the matter to the symbol.
- The symbol evokes the reader's thought.
- The reader refers the symbol back to the matter.
References
- Triangle of Reference, 📝Wikipedia
- The Meaning of Meaning Model, communicationtheory.org