ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the main functions of signs, the intertextual relationships established between the set of signs in a direct link with translation. The term 'connotation' can be further sub-divided into three kinds of signs: iconic sign, indexical sign and symbolic sign. An icon is a sign used to describe, mentally or visually, something similar to the signified. An index is a sign that suggests a fact or state of affairs. It is a sign which is inherently linked in some way, existentially or causally, to the signified. The term 'symbol' is used to describe an arbitrary or totally conventional relationship between the sign and the object for which it stands. A picture of a well-known place brings different systems of signs into the mind, such as location, weather, history, and politics. Intertextual links cross the boundaries of different genres and systems of signs. Genres can be identified on the basis of shared functions.
