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Article published In:
Sign Language & Linguistics
Vol. 27:1 (2024) ► pp.73–102

What is iconicity?

The view from sign languages

ORCID logo | University of Stuttgart
Iconicity has been defined in three majors ways in the sign language literature. Some authors describe iconicity as a similarity mapping between a signifier (the mental representation of the form side of a linguistic sign) and its referent, while others state that iconicity is to be understood as a similarity mapping between a signifier and its meaning. Other scholars have defined iconicity as a similarity mapping between a signifier and some other mental representation. The goal of this paper is to give an overview of the consequences entailed by defining iconicity as a mapping between a signifier and its referent, a signifier and its meaning, or a signifier and some mental concept. These consequences will be discussed from different theoretical perspectives. It will be argued that definitions viewing iconicity as a mapping between a signifier and some associated mental concept work best, while definitions based on reference and meaning run into several theoretical problems or are, at least, rather theory-specific.
Keywords: iconicity, iconic, arbitrariness, meaning, reference
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Iconic signs
  • 3.The reference definition and its problems
    • 3.1Problem 1: Fictional creatures
    • 3.2Problem 2: Generic sentences, negative existentials, and other non-referring constructions
    • 3.3Problem 3: Compounds
    • 3.4Problem 4: Metonymy
  • 4.The meaning definition and its problem(s)
    • 4.1Meanings are not concepts
    • 4.2On metonymic relations
    • 4.3Sign language acquisition data
    • 4.4The alternative view: Meanings are concepts
  • 5.The mental representation definition
  • 6.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 14 March 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sll.22003.bro
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