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Note: This is the paperback edition of a previously announced title.
This book examines mathematical discourse from the perspective of Michael
Halliday's social semiotic theory. In this approach, mathematics is
conceptualized as a multisemiotic discourse involving language, visual
images and symbolism.
The book discusses the evolution of the semiotics of mathematical
discourse, and then, proceeds to examine the grammar of mathematical
symbolism, the grammar of mathematical visual images, intersemiosis between
language, visual images and symbolism and the subsequent ways in which
mathematics orders reality. The focus of this investigation is written
mathematical texts.
The aims of the book are to understand the semantic realm of mathematics
and to appreciate the metaphorical expansions and simultaneous limitations
of meaning in mathematical discourse. The book is intended for linguists,
semioticians, social scientists and those interested in mathematics and
science education. In addition, the close study of the multisemiotic mature
of mathematics has implications for other studies adopting a social
semiotic approach to multimodality.
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