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The `!triangle of reference`! (also known as the `!triangle of meaning`!`:cite-ref-1[`F5bf`_`[1`#cite-note-1]`_`f] and the `!`F33f`_`[semiotic`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Semiotics]`_`f triangle`!) is a model of how linguistic symbols relate to the objects they represent. The triangle was published in `*`F33f`_`[The Meaning of Meaning`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=The_Meaning_of_Meaning]`_`f`* (1923) by `F33f`_`[Charles Kay Ogden`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Charles_Kay_Ogden]`_`f and `F33f`_`[I. A. Richards`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=I._A._Richards]`_`f.`:cite-ref-2[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-2]`_`f] While often referred to as the "Ogden/Richards triangle", the idea was also expressed in 1810 by `F33f`_`[Bernard Bolzano`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Bernard_Bolzano]`_`f, in his `*Beiträge zu einer begründeteren Darstellung der Mathematik`*. The triangle can be traced back to 4th century BC, in `F33f`_`[Aristotle`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Aristotle]`_`f's `*`F33f`_`[Peri Hermeneias`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=De_Interpretatione]`_`f`*. The Triangle relates to the `F33f`_`[problem of universals`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Problem_of_universals]`_`f, a philosophical debate which split ancient and medieval philosophers, especially `F33f`_`[realists`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Platonic_realism]`_`f and `F33f`_`[nominalists`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Nominalism]`_`f.

The triangle describes a simplified form of relationship between the speaker as the `*subject`*, a concept as an `*object`* or `*referent`*, and its designation (`*sign`*, signans).

>>Contents

• `F0af`_`[See also`#see-also]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[References`#references]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[External links`#external-links]`_`f

-─

>>See also

• `F33f`_`[Direction of fit`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Direction_of_fit]`_`f

• `F33f`_`[The Delta Factor`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=The_Message_in_the_Bottle]`_`f

• `*`F33f`_`[De dicto and de re`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=De_dicto_and_de_re]`_`f`*

• `*`F33f`_`[De se`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=De_se]`_`f`*

>>References

`:cite-note-1`!1.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-1]`_`f `F33f`_`[Colin Cherry`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Colin_Cherry]`_`f (1957) `*On Human Communication`*

`:cite-note-2`!2.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-2]`_`f `F33f`_`[C. K. Ogden`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=C._K._Ogden]`_`f and `F33f`_`[I. A. Richards`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=I._A._Richards]`_`f (1923) `*`F33f`_`[The Meaning of Meaning`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=The_Meaning_of_Meaning]`_`f`*

>>External links

• Jessica Erickstad (1998) `*Richards' Meaning of Meaning Theory`*. University of Colorado at Boulder.

• Allie Cahill (1998) `*"Proper Meaning Superstition" (I. A. Richards)`*. University of Colorado at Boulder.

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