Iconicity

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In functional-cognitive linguistics, as well as in semiotics, iconicity is the conceived similarity or analogy between a form of a sign (linguistic or otherwise) and its meaning, as opposed to arbitrariness.

Iconic principles:

Quantity principle: formal complexity corresponds to conceptual complexity
Proximity principle: conceptual distance tends to match with linguistic distance
Sequential order principle: the sequential order of events described is mirrored in the speech chain

Iconic coding principles are natural tendencies in language and are also part of our cognitive and biological make-up. Onomatopoeia may be seen as a kind of iconicity, though even onomatopoeic sounds have a large degree of arbitrariness.

Iconicity is often argued to play a large role in the production and perception of gesture. Proposed ways in which iconicity is achieved is through Hands that Act, Embody, Model, and Draw. In sign languages iconicity was often argued to be largely confined to sign formation. After longer usage the iconicity would no longer play an actual role in perception and production as the sign becomes part of the conventionalized vocabulary (comparable to onomatopeia). More recently, as sign language researchers gain confidence (and the fear of losing linguistic status subsides), iconicity is once again allowed to play a more central role again. Current sign language phonology acknowledges that certain aspects are semantically motivated. An important way in which iconicity plays an active role is in the modulation of signs, where the meaning of a sign is elaborated or altered by changing aspects of it. The ability to work creatively with sign language in this way has been associated with accomplished, or native signers.