Under Construction!!
The Gateway Glossary is not a dictionary of definitive definitions, but a set of rough 'glosses' (paraphrases and usage notes) for many of the key terms used in social semiotics, discourse analysis, ecosocial dynamics, and related areas, including those used in my own work. It does not include technical linguistic, semiotic, or computer science terms except where they are also used for wider concepts. This glossary is a gateway in the sense that glosses like these are often necessary for newcomers to find their way into these subjects. I don't happen to believe in defining terms more precisely than the subjects they gloss warrant, but I worry that in-group reluctance to provide definitions may inadvertently act to exclude others by providing no way in at all.
Cautions concerning Word Meanings
Other Gateways [Keywords, Greimas & Courtes]
NOTE: This glossary will grow slowly in content, if at all, unless others volunteer to provide definitions, glosses, or links. A good gloss should provide: (1) a short, imperfect 'sense' of the meaning, (2) examples of use in context, (3) notes on different uses of the term by different authors or in different subfields, and (4) optionally, links to texts that have shaped the usage of the term in a community.
Temporarily, even without the glosses, the following list provides a basic vocabulary guide to terms and concepts that new researchers in these fields may need to be familiar with. For useful sources, visit the Researcher's Corner.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
[Search Form?]
==========================
A is for Aardvark and ...
actant, actantial
activity, - theory
actor network, - theory
affordance
agnation
amodern
autopoiesis, autopoietic
axiology, axiological
B is for Beneficence and ...
C is for Catachresis and ...
CA = conversation analysis
capital: economic, social, cultural, bodily
caste
co-dimension
co-generic
coding orientation
cognitive, cognitivism
cohesion
complexity
constructivist
contextualization
critical
cybernetics
cyberspace
D is for Delirium and ...
deconstruction
decontextualize,-ed,-ing
depiction, -al
development, -al
discourse, discursive
disjunction
disposition
dynamics
E is for Egoist and ...
ecosocial
emic
episteme
epistemology, -ical
etic
evolution, -ary
F is for Fantasy and ...
field
formalism, -ist
formation, -al
functional, -ist
G is for Gaia and ...
genre
generic, -ity
H is for Haiku and ...
habitus
hegemony,-ic
heteroglossia,-c
heteropraxia
hexis
hermeneutic-s
hybrid
hypermedia
hyperreal, -ity
hypertext, -ual
I is for Irony and ...
icon, -ic
identity
ideational
ideology,-ical
index-ical
instantial
interpellate
interpersonal
intertext, -ual, -ity
irrealis
L is for Lasso and ...
lexicogrammar
M is for Mystery and ...
masculinism
meta-discourse
metafunction, -al
metalanguage, metalinguistic
metapragmatic
meta-redundancy
meta-semiotic
metasystem
mode
multi-dimensional
multimedia
multimodal
multiplex
N is for Neophyte and ...
network
nexus
O is for Oprah and ...
ontology, -ical
open system
organizational
orientational
Other
P is for Pangloss and ...
paradigm, -atic
phenomenology, -ical
phonology, -ical
positioned, positional
positivism, -ist, -ic
postmodern, -ism
practice
pragmatics
praxis
presentational
Q is for Quixote and ...
queer theory
R is against Ridicule and for ...
realis
register
rhizome
S is for Simplicity and ...
self-organizing, -ation
seme = sememe
semantics
semiology, -ical
semiosis
semiotic-s
scale hierarchy
scientistic
sign
signifier,-ed
signifying
systemic
sociality
social semiotic-s
specification hierarchy
speech act, - theory
subsystem
subculture
supersystem
structure
structuralism,-ist
structuration, -al
syntagm, -atic
T is for Transgression and ...
tenor
textual, -ity
texture
theme
thematic, - formation
topology, -ical
trajectory
typology, -ical
U is for Utopia and ...
V is for Vicinity and ...
virtual, - reality
W is for Willingness and ...
X is for X-Files and ...
Y is for Ypsilanti and ...
Z is for Zyzygy and ...
zoosemiotic