More than a Splendid Blend of Cultures: Exploring the Semiotic Depth of Faux-Asian Fonts

• 作者: Ningyang Chen
• 来源期刊: 语言与符号学研究
• 学科: 文学
• 关键词: writing systems faux-Asian fonts graphemic REPRESENTATIONS semiotic SUPERPOSITION
• 年，卷（期）: 2019,（4）
• 页码范围: 71-90
• 页数: 20页
• 分类号: H02

摘要

Creative alternative scripts in such typical forms as faux style fonts transcend writing systems.In addition to their artistic value in creating an illusion suggestive of cultural blends,they also provide an interesting case for semiotic analysis.By examining the features of graphemic representations in English scripts rendered using faux-Chinese fonts,this article makes an attempt to explore the depth of semiotic encoding in topographical innovations.Based on a focused review of previous discussions on the semiotics of written language,it analyses how typography as a semiotic resource works to encode meaning within and across writing systems.It is argued that blending the features of graphemic stereotypes in different writing systems contributes to a semiotic superposition which works with contextual properties to foreground one reading of an ambiguous grapheme over other possible alternatives.A semiotic interpretation of this typographic innovation points to the possible merging of typological boundaries and the potential for written linguistic signs to connect and communicate across systems.