1 Even though it is relatively reduced in terms of its linguistic content, we can analyse this sign at various levels. At the ‘top’ level, it constitutes a text – not a very long text, admittedly. But it is a self-standing, continuous, functional stretch of language. The text, in turn, consists of one sentence. Again, it is not a very long sentence. In fact, it consists of a single verb: stop. (Since stop is in the imperative mood, it does not require a subject, nor – being an intransitive verb – an object.) Continuing our analysis, the sentence STOP consists of one word, defined as ‘the smallest language item that can occur on its own’. Thus stop is a word, and so are stopwatch and doorstop, while bus stop and stop in are each two words.

The word stop itself consists of one morpheme. Morphemes are the smallest units of meaning in a language and form the building blocks of words. Thus, the word stopwatch consists of two morphemes: stop + watch. So, too, does the word stopping, since the suffix -ing has an independent meaning, and can be added to other verbs to change their meaning: start→starting, go →going, come →coming. The word unstoppable consists of three morphemes: un-, stop(p), -able. (Notice that morphemes are not the same as syllables: some morphemes can consist of two syllables: -able.)

At the next, most granular level of analysis, the text-sentence-word-morpheme STOP consists of four capitalized letters: S – T – O – P. The technical word for the letters that make up the system of spelling of a language (i.e. its alphabet) is graphemes. These four graphemes represent the four sounds (or phonemes) that comprise the word. Because the written letters of a word do not always correspond with specific sounds, there is a special set of symbols (called phonemic symbols) that is used by linguists to represent the way words are pronounced. The word stop would be written as stɑp (using the standard American system of transcription) or stɒp, using the British system.

So, to summarise: the STOP sign can be analysed in terms of these different levels (or systems):

(There is another, even higher layer, which is the level of the sign itself: this consists of at least two elements: the visual element (a red six-sided figure) and the language element: STOP.