Typological and Topological Meaning

How are various systems of semiotic resources (e.g. language, depiction, gesture) specialized for the construction of category-contrastive, or typological, meanings vs. continuous-variation, or topological meanings? How does each system provide resources for each broad type of meaning? How are the typological and topological resources integrated in the (idealized) use of a single system, and in the (actual) use of multiple, integrated semiotic resource systems? How historically have meanings of each of these broad types influenced meanings of the other kind, and how have semiotic resource systems more specialized toward one been typically integrated with those more specialized toward the other? How are topological meanings typically coded by signs and signifying actions? what alternatives are available to the contrastive valeur-principle for typological semiosis?


Source:academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/education/jlemke/phd-tops.htm