In semiotics, a modality is a particular way in which the information is to be encoded for presentation to humans, i.e. to the type of sign and to the status of reality ascribed to or claimed by a sign, text or genre.
It is more closely associated with the semiotics of Charles Peirce than Saussure because meaning is conceived as an effect of a set of signs. In the Peircian model, a reference is made to an object when the sign-carrier (a representamen) is interpreted recursively by another sign (becoming its interpretant), a conception of meaning that does in fact imply a classification of sign types.
It is more closely associated with the semiotics of Charles Peirce than Saussure because meaning is conceived as an effect of a set of signs. In the Peircian model, a reference is made to an object when the sign-carrier (a representamen) is interpreted recursively by another sign (becoming its interpretant), a conception of meaning that does in fact imply a classification of sign types.
