The formal and psychological requirements of semiosis or sign action is discussed. It is shown that, at the formal level, systems of signs are best accounted for in terms of Peirce's semiotic triad of sign, object and interpretant, as well as his view that systems of signs are generative and recursive. The importance of the distinction between sign and representamen, as well as that between the dynamic and immediate objects in the semiotic triad, is also noted. A case is then made that, in addition to the formal semiotic triad, it is necessary to make explicit the role of the maker of the sign, the intended receiver of the sign, and the context in which the sign is used at the psychological level. The interrelationships among the sextuple (viz. sign, object, sign maker, sign receiver, context and interpretant) are illustrated by treating speech acts as a kind of sign action or semiosis with a heuristic model.
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