The Development Of The Concept Of The Linguistic Sign Among Arabs And The West: A Comparative Semantic Study

Abstract

This research deals with the concept of "linguistic sign" in linguistic studies among Arabs and the West, both historically and in the present, from different perspectives within a specific historical context. Language is a system of meaningful signs that encompasses a wide range of concepts. It is a linguistic field that includes all concepts derived from reality. There is a correlation between the auditory image (signifier) associated with this image (signified). Therefore, a discussion of semantics requires a discussion of the linguistic sign. Since the beginning of existence, signs have existed due to man's interaction with nature and his attempt to interpret its meaning in order to change and control phenomena, thus achieving social conditions as a human characteristic. This tendency can only be realised in the presence of a terminological system of meaningful signs, among which is the "linguistic sign". What is the linguistic sign? What are its characteristics and types? How have Arab and Western scholars approached it historically and contemporarily?