Final answer:
Semiotics is the study that focuses on understanding the meaning of signs, symbols, and words. It encompasses both linguistic and nonlinguistic elements and involves analyzing patterns and relationships between various forms of communication within society.
Step-by-step explanation:
The scientific study of relationships between signs, symbols, and words and their meaning is called semiotics. Semiotics is a theoretical perspective through which scholars examine the relationship of individuals within their society by studying their communication, including language and symbols. Understanding symbols is pivotal, as they serve as the building blocks for communication, helping convey meanings that are shared across societies. Furthermore, semiotics is not limited to the study of language but extends to any system of signs and the ways in which these signs convey meanings, such as gestures, signs, objects, signals, as well as written characters and words.
This field involves analyzing how meaning is constructed and understood through various symbols—a process that is both linguistic and nonlinguistic. It is associated with structuralism, which is the belief that the universe has an identifiable structure reflected in language and that to understand the parts, one must first understand their role within the overall structure. Semiotics also deals with identifying relationships between ideas, organizational patterns, and the interaction between verbal and nonverbal elements in diverse texts.