符号

符号(symbol)

用於表示或象徵人、物、群、过程或概念的通讯要素。符号可以用图形（例如基督教的十字架，或是黑白对分圆的阴阳）或具象（例如山姆大叔代表美国，狮子代表英勇）来呈现。符号可以包括字母的关联（例如C代表化学元素碳）或是任意指定（例如数学的无限符号或是货币符号）。符号本身不是一种语言，而是用来将过於复杂或激烈，无法用普通语言清楚表达的概念，在共同文化的人与人之间传递。每个社会都发展一套符号系统，反映特殊的文化逻辑，而且每个符号使用的功能在文化的成员之间传播资讯，方式很像普通的语言，但是更为巧妙。虽然符号可能是结婚戒指或图腾柱的抽象形式，符号倾向於成群出现，取决於彼此之间的含意与价值的累加。亦请参阅semotics。

English version：

symbol

Communication element intended to represent or stand for a person, object, group, process, or idea. Symbols may be presented graphically (e.g., the cross for Christianity, or the light/dark halved circle for yin-yang) or representationally (e.g., Uncle Sam standing for the U.S., or a lion standing for courage). They may involve associated letters (e.g., C for the chemical element carbon), or they may be assigned arbitrarily (e.g., the mathematical symbol for infinity or the dollar symbol). Symbols are not a language of and by themselves; rather they are devices by which ideas often too complex or highly charged to articulate in ordinary language are transmitted between people sharing a common culture. Every society has evolved a symbol system that reflects a specific cultural logic; and every symbolism functions to communicate information between members of the culture in much the same way as, but more subtly than, conventional language. Though a symbol may take the discrete form of a wedding ring or a totem pole, symbols tend to appear in clusters and depend on one another for their accretion of meaning and value. See also semiotics.