Chapter 1
Sign languages as natural languages
Find two iconic signs and two arbitrary signs from a sign language that you know. You need to know the etymology of the iconic signs. Describe the iconic aspects of the iconic signs. Are the two equally iconic? Are the two arbitrary signs equally arbitrary?
Here an example from South African Sign Language to illustrate what you would expect:
Excerpt SASL dictionary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufRlTMcYxbA.
The first six signs are: woman, pap, cook, man, cow, search
Place on a line from arbitrary to iconic: pap > woman > man > search > cow > cook as shown below.
Discuss the influence of cultural knowledge on decisions about iconicity.