Conventional Signals - Conventional Signals

...We can also distinguish between "conscious signals," which are signals that speakers use intentionally to convey information to others, and "unconscious signals," which convey emotions such as anger or joy to others without any intention to communicate. Furthermore, there are "innate signals," whose meanings animals know from birth, such as when some birds make alarm calls to alert others to the presence of enemies, and "conventional signals," whose meanings are determined arbitrarily, such as when greeting someone when they meet or leave, or when they are a traffic signal. In order for a listener to understand such a signal, the signal must have a common meaning between the speaker and the listener. ...

*Some of the terminology that refers to "conventional signals" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…また，話し手が相手に情報を伝えるため意図的にこれを用いる〈意識的信号〉と，伝達の意思はないのに怒りや喜びなどの感情が相手に伝わる〈無意識的信号〉を区別できる。さらに，たとえばある種の鳥類が警戒の鳴き声をあげて敵の存在を仲間に知らせる場合のように，その意味を動物が生まれつき知っている〈生得的信号〉と，出会いや別れの挨拶，交通信号などのようにその意味が任意的に決定される〈慣習的信号〉がある。聞き手がこうした信号を理解するためには，その信号が話し手とのあいだに共通の意味をもっていなければならない。…

※「慣習的信号」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報