Is there any usual attempt in model theory to define someting like the "canonical" signature of a class of structures.

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Let $\mathbb{K}$ denote a class of structures, in the usual sense of model theory. Have there been any attempts to define a sensible notion of either

  1. the usual/canonical siganture with which to axiomatize $\mathbb{K}$,

  2. a "category of all signatures suitable to axiomatize $\mathbb{K}$".

If so, what references do you recommend on this?

Remarks.

  • A standard example of two different signatures being used to axiomatize the same class is the class of all 1-categories: there is of course the usual two-sorted axiomatization, and the less usual but well-known one-sorted one.

  • The "syntactic category", in the usual sense of categorical logic, is vaguely in the spirit of 2., but seems quite irrelevant actually.

  • I have not seen anything substantial in the direction of either 1. or 2. There seems no way, and it seems not be considered a reasonable question.