Observations that iconicity diminishes over time in sign languages (Frishberg
1975) pose a puzzle: Why should something so evidently useful and functional decrease? Using an archival dataset of
signs elicited over 15 years from 4 first-cohort and 4 third-cohort signers of an emerging sign language (Nicaraguan Sign
Language), we investigated changes in pantomimic (body-to-body) and perceptual (body-to-object) iconicity. We make three key
observations: (1) there is greater variability in the signs produced by the first cohort compared to the third; (2) while both
types of iconicity are evident, pantomimic iconicity is more prevalent than perceptual iconicity for both groups; and (3) across
cohorts, pantomimic elements are dropped to a greater proportion than perceptual elements. The higher rate of pantomimic iconicity
in the first-cohort lexicon reflects the usefulness of body-as-body mapping in language creation. Yet, its greater vulnerability
to change over transmission suggests that it is less favored by children’s language acquisition processes.
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