Triangle of reference

{{short description|Model in semiotics}} {{Multiple issues| {{original research|date=February 2008}} {{refimprove|date=June 2024}} }}

[[File:Ogden semiotic triangle.png|thumb|right|220px|The triangle of reference, or semiotic triangle. Figure taken from page 11 of ''The Meaning of Meaning''.]]

The '''triangle of reference''' (also known as the '''triangle of meaning'''<ref>Colin Cherry (1957) ''On Human Communication''</ref> and the '''semiotic triangle''') is a model of how linguistic symbols relate to the objects they represent. The triangle was published in ''The Meaning of Meaning'' (1923) by Charles Kay Ogden and I. A. Richards.<ref>C. K. Ogden and I. A. Richards (1923) ''The Meaning of Meaning''</ref> While often referred to as the "Ogden/Richards triangle", the idea was also expressed in 1810 by Bernard Bolzano, in his ''Beiträge zu einer begründeteren Darstellung der Mathematik'' (''Contributions to a more well-founded presentation of mathematics''). The triangle can be traced back to 4th century BC, in Aristotle's ''Peri Hermeneias''. The Triangle relates to the problem of universals, a philosophical debate which split ancient and medieval philosophers, especially realists and nominalists.

The triangle describes a simplified form of relationship between the speaker as the ''subject'', a concept as an ''object'' or ''referent'', and its designation (''sign'', signans).

== See also == * Direction of fit * The Delta Factor * ''De dicto and de re'' * ''De se''

== References == <references/>

== External links == * Jessica Erickstad (1998) [https://web.archive.org/web/20080110140900/http://www.colorado.edu/communication/meta-discourses/Papers/App_Papers/Erickstad.htm ''Richards' Meaning of Meaning Theory'']. University of Colorado at Boulder. * Allie Cahill (1998) [https://web.archive.org/web/20080102230650/http://www.colorado.edu/communication/meta-discourses/Papers/App_Papers/Cahill.htm ''"Proper Meaning Superstition" (I. A. Richards)'']. University of Colorado at Boulder.

Category:Semantics Category:Pragmatics Category:Philosophy of language Category:Concepts in the philosophy of mind