Ch. 1 | Exercise 1

Chapter 1
The Nature of Language and Linguistics

Exercise 1.1
The Nature of Signs

1.

Identify the following nonlinguistic signs as iconic, indexical, or symbolic, or as a combination of any two.

a.

a wave of the hand (for goodbye)

b.

a picture of a cigarette with a red circle around it and a diagonal slash through it

c.

a road map

d.

a stop sign

e.

the footprints of an animal in the mud

f.

a jack-o'-lantern

g.

thunder

h.

the human figure depicted on the washroom door

i.

skull and crossbones (as a sign for poison)

j.

the smell of a skunk

2.

All of the following linguistic signs (underlined), as well as being arbitrary, are in part either iconic or indexical. Say which they are.

a.

The balloon rose higher and higher into the sky.

b.

Here is your coat.

c.

Do you want a fizzy drink?

d.

This pan is big, but I need the biggest pan that you have.

e.

The building was h-u-u-ge.

f.

He sneered and snickered.

g.

To the left is a picture by Michelangelo.

i.

We were awakened by the cock-a-doodle-doo of the rooster.

3.

Say whether the order of the clauses in each of the following is iconic or arbitrary.

a.
i.

Close all of the windows before you go.

ii.

Before you go, close all of the windows.

b.
i.

Before I saw Helene, she had eaten lunch.

ii.

Helene had eaten lunch before I saw her.

1.
a.

symbolic

b.

iconic and symbolic

c.

iconic and symbolic

d.

symbolic

e.

indexical and iconic

f.

symbolic and indexical

g.

indexical

h.

iconic and arbitrary

i.

iconic and arbitrary

j.

indexical

2.
a.

iconic

b.

indexical

c.

iconic

d.

iconic

e.

iconic

f.

iconic

g.

indexical

h.

iconic

3.
a.

The order of clauses in (i) corresponds to the order of the actions, so is iconic.

b.

The order of clauses in (ii) is iconic.