It has the function, in other words, of negating its own meaning in another semiotic system, in this case the semiotic system of the stoplight.

也就是说，他有这样那样的功能，在不同语义系统中表示的甚至完全相反，就像红灯表示的这些不同含义一样。

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选

One time, I paid a beggar when I was driving in my car and I was stopped to the stoplight,

有一次，我给过乞丐钱，当时我在开车，正在等红灯，

不做善事的理由 - SpeakingMax英语口语达人

As I say, there's a certain instability which could never apply in the semiotics of the stoplight because there it's not so much a question of but rather the insistence that the color is just that color.

我承认，颜色的选择有时候是有规律的,但是在语义学上这解释不通,因为他们不考虑,但是语义学家认为颜色只单纯表示颜色。

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选

and... sometimes, you know, beggars will wait at the stoplight and hold the sign

然后……有时，你可能也遇到过，乞讨的人会等在红灯旁，举着一个牌子，

不做善事的理由 - SpeakingMax英语口语达人

Now in a stoplight, it only has three, one is tempted to say, variables plainly differing from each other: red, yellow and green we have two ways of thinking about the red light.

交通灯，三种灯，红黄绿，它们的颜色和彼此不能,我们有两种方式认识红灯的意思。

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选

I stopped at the stoplight and there was a homeless guy there, a beggar,

我停下车等红灯，然后看到一个无家可归的人在那里乞讨，

不做善事的理由 - SpeakingMax英语口语达人

In other words, they probably bear a distant relation to the semiotics of the stoplight, and that's probably why red was chosen for ambulances and police cars: because they put into your head the notion of "stop."

这很可能是源自于,红灯在一些语义中表示停止的意思，它被应用在了救护车和警车上：,因为他们带有警告的意味“

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选