No, like... *everything* is triadic. Peirce breaks everything down into [[firstness, secondness and thirdness]]. Each individual [[sign]], for example, breaks down into three parts: * The _representamen_, which is like the signifier (firstness) * The _object_, which is like the signified in terms of the original referent (secondness) * The _interpretant_, which is something like the signified in terms of what actually goes on in your head when you hear the sign. (thirdness) Different [[icon, index and symbol|types of signs]] then break down in the same way: * *icons* relate to their object by virtue of similarity (firstness) * *indices* relate to their object by virtue of a real-world relation (secondness) * *symbols* relate to their object by virtua of a pre-existing code or known rule (thirdness)