THE PHILOSOPHICAL AND LINGUISTIC FOUNDATIONS OF SEMIOTICS: THE FORMATION OF A SCIENCE OF SIGNS AND A THEORY OF MEANING

Abstract This study examines the philosophical and linguistic foundations that paved the way for the emergence of semiotics as both a science of signs and a theory of meaning. It is based on the premise that meaning is not a ready-made entity revealed by the sign; rather, it is the product of relations, systems, and interpretation. Accordingly, the history of semiotics can be understood as the history of the transformation of the concept of meaning from reference to difference, from essence to s