What is semiotics?:  a general philosophical theory of signs and symbols that deals especially with their function in both artificially constructed and natural languages and comprises syntactics, semantics, and pragmatics (dictionary.com)

the study of signs and sign systems. This includes the investigation of apprehension, prediction and meaning: how it is that we develop meaning, make predictions, and apprehend the world. General theories of signs are called semiotics.
(wikipedia.org)

Six principles of Semiotics

• What is semiotics? Brief overview
• Semiotics for Beginners
• Semiotics and Media
• The Semiotics of Media
• Semiotics & The English Language Arts
• Semiotic Analysis of Images
• List of semiotic links
• Kress and Van Leeuwen's Grammar of Visual Design
  
   

Recommended Online Journal:
        Semiotix

Recommended Texts:

Daniel Chandler Routledge ISBN: 0415265940	Totem Books ISBN:1840460733	St. Martin's Press 2nd Edition ISBN: 07190-4501-0	St. Martin's Press ISBN: 0874774802
website	Polity Press ISBN: 0745603734	Reading Images The Grammar of Visual Design	Understanding Media Semiotics Marcel Danesi author's website