Shot in the dark here:

https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vyacheslav_Ivanov_(philologist)

^ OK, Dude dieD 10/7/17(ALIAS???) He was a "semiotician":

"Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the study of meaning-making, the study of sign process (semiosis) and meaningful communication. It is not to be confused with the Saussurean tradition called semiology which is a subset of semiotics.[1][2] This includes the study of signs and sign processes, indication, designation, likeness, analogy, allegory, metonymy, metaphor, symbolism, signification, and communication."