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Iconicity

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Infunctional-cognitivelinguistics,aswellasinmiotics,iconicity

istheconceivedsimilarityoranalogybetweentheformofasign

(linguisticorotherwi)anditsmeaning,asoppodtoarbitrariness.

Iconicprinciples:

Quantityprinciple:conceptualcomplexitycorrespondstoformal

complexity

Proximityprinciple:conceptualdistancetendstomatchwith

linguisticdistance

Sequentialorderprinciple:thequentialorderofevents

describedismirroredinthespeechchain

Contents

[hide]

1Quantityprinciple

2Iconicityandtheevolutionoflanguage

3Iconiccallsandgestures

4Iconicityandsignlanguages

5Iconicityandpoetry

6Iconicityandfolketymology

7Uoficonicitytohelpteachforeignlanguages

8Vowelmagnituderelationships

9IconicityandtheDigitalWorld

10Seealso

11References

12Bibliography

Quantityprinciple[edit]

Theuofquantityofphoneticmaterialtoiconicallymarkincread

qualityorquantitycanbenotedinthelengtheningofwordstoindicate

agreaterdegree,suchas"looong".Itisalsocommontoureduplication

toiconicallymarkincrea,asSapirisoftenquoted,“Theprocessis

generallyemployed,withlf-evidentsymbolism,toindicatesuch

conceptsasdistribution,plurality,repetition,customaryactivity,

increaofsize,addedintensity,continuance”(1921:79).Thishasbeen

confirmedbythecomparativestudiesofKey(1965)andMoravcsik(1978).[1]

Thiscanbeen,forexample,inAmharic:täsäbbärä'itwasbroken'and

täsäbbabärä'itwasshattered'.

Iconiccodingprinciplesmaybenaturaltendenciesinlanguageandare

stionwhether

iconicityisindeedatruepartoflanguagehasalwaysbeendebatedin

ly,forinstance,Haspelmathhasarguedagainst

iconicity,claimingthatmosticonicphenomenacanbeexplainedby

frequencybias:sincesimplermeaningstendtobemorefrequentinthe

languageutheytendtolophonologicalmaterial.

Onomatopoeiamaybeenasakindoficonicity,thoughevenonomatopoeic

soundshavealargedegreeofarbitrariness.

Iconicityandtheevolutionoflanguage[edit]

DerekBickertonhaspositedthaticonicsigns,bothverbalandgestural,

communication

systems,Bickertonhasargued,arelargelycompodofindexical(and,

occasionally,iconic)signs,whereasinhumanlanguage,"mostwordsare

symbolic,and...withoutsymbolicwordswecouldn'thavelanguage."The

distinctionBickertondrawsbetweenthecategoriesisoneof

displacement,withtheindexicalsignsofanimalcommunicationsystems

havingnocapacityfordisplacement,andthesymbolicsignsofhuman

signs,however,"mayormaynothaveit

dependingonhowthey'reud...iconicity,therefore,isthemost

probableroadthatourancestorstookintolanguage."

Usinganiche-constructionviewofhumanevolution,Bickertonhas

hypothesizedthathumanancestorsudiconicsignsasrecruitment

ocess"wouldhave

creatednewwordsanddeployedoldwordsinnewcontexts,further

weakeningtheuncouplingofwordsfromsituations,fromcurrent

occurrence—evenfromfitness,"andthusallowingforthecreationof

symboliclanguage.[2]

InTheSymbolicSpecies,TerranceDeaconarguesthattheemanationof

symboliccapacitiesuniquetolanguagewasacriticalfactorinthe

evolutionofthehumanbrain,andthatthesymboliccapacitiesarevital

todifferentiatinganimalfromhumanformsofcommunication,process

oflearning,andbrainanatomy."Thedoorwayintothisvirtualworldwas

openedtousalonebytheevolutionoflanguage,becaulanguageisnot

merelyamodeofcommunication,itisalsotheoutwardexpressionofan

unusualmodeofthought—symbolicreprentation."[3]

Iconiccallsandgestures

Iconiccallsandgesturesmimictheformsofthethingstheystandfor

(suchasoutliningshapesormovingyourhandsbackandforthmultiple

timestoshowrepetition.)Iconiccallsandgesturesarenotformally

consideredlanguage,orlanguage-likecommunicationinthattheydonot

thatimitatesounds

ofthesurroundingenvironment(ideophones)

humansposssarepertoireoficoniccallsandgestures,mammalsproduce

ethis,afewcaptive

getal.

states:"Chimpanzeesinthewilddonotpoint,andrarelydosoin

captivity,howeverthereisadocumentedcaofonenamedKanzi,

describedbySavage-Rumbaughetal.,whocouldindicatedirectionof

travelby'extendinghishand.'Anotherchimpanzee,Viki(HayesandNisn

1971:107)mademotionsofkneadingorironingwhenshewantedtoknead

doughorironnapkins."Beedancesareanotherexampleoficonicityin

animalcommunicationsystems.[4]

Iconicityandsignlanguages[edit]

Iconicityisoftenarguedtoplayalargeroleintheproductionand

edwaysinwhichiconicityisachievedis

throughHandsthatAct,Embody,Model,languages

iconicitywasoftenarguedtobelargelyconfinedtosignformation

(comparabletoonomatopeia).Someproponentsbelievethaticonicitydoes

notplayanactualroleinperceptionandproductionofsignsoncethey

haveundergonephonologicalreductionandbecomepartofthe

conventionalizedvocabulary.[5]Morerecently,assignlanguage

rearchersgainconfidence(andthefearoflosinglinguisticstatus

subsides),thepossibleroleoficonicityisbeingevaluatedagain.

Currentrearchonsignlanguagephonologyacknowledgesthatcertain

r,theabilitytomodifysign

abilitytoworkcreativelywithsignlanguageinthiswayhasbeen

associatedwithaccomplished,ornativesigners.

Iconicityixpresdinthegrammaticalstructureofsignlanguages

reudtogivedescriptiveinformationabout

icanSignlanguage(ASL)agrammaticalmarker

denoting“intensity”ischaracterizedbyamovementpatternwithtwo

parts:aninitialpau,ispattern

isaddedtotheadjectiveGOODtheresultingmeaningisVERY-GOOD.[6]The

ASLmarkerfor"intensity"isiconicinthattheintendedmeaning

(buildingofpressure,asuddenrelea)ismatchedbythearticulatory

form(apau,aquickcompletion).

Likeinvocallanguages,developmentaltrendsinASLshyawayfrom

hanges"contributetoward

symmetry,fluidity,locationaldisplacementandassimilation.".[7]For

examplethesignWEudtocontainthesignforeachindividualbeing

ingerwouldsignME+YOU1+YOU2+YOUn

+signhasturnedintoasmoothsymbolicsignwherethesigner

makestwotouchesonthechest,oneoneachside,withasweepofthewrist

inbetween.

Iconicityandpoetry[edit]

-knownformofpoetic

iconicityistheuofonomatopoeia,whichmaybecalledauditory

mes,though,theformofthepoemremblesorenacts

thepoem'scontent,andinthisca,

poetwellknownforhisvisualpoems,andthereforevisualiconicity,is

tofvisualiconicityinvolvesaspatialiconicity.

Forinstance,inCummings'grasshopperpoem("r-p-o-p-h-e-s-s-a-g-r")

thewordarrivingbeginsonthefarrightofthepoemwiththe"a,"the

"r"isnearthemiddleofthepoem,andtherestofthewordisonthe

dermusttravelagreatdistanceacrossthepoem,

therefore,inorderto"arrive."Thespatialdimension,then,canrelate

oems"TheFish"and"TheMoo"by

ElizabethBishop,untoftimeit

takestoread"TheFish"coincideswiththelengthoftimeafishcould

liveoutsideofwater;likewi,thedurationofthelongbusridein"The

Moo"coincideswiththepoem'slongfirstntenceaswellasthe

twenty-somestanzasittakesbeforethepasngersonthebus(andthe

reader)actuallyencountersthemoo.

Iconicityandfolketymology[edit]

Iconicityoccursinrejectivephono-manticmatching."Consider

LithuanianAshkenazicHebrewערםדradom(hradam),lit.‘of

badblood’(fromHebrewערםדra`dam‘ofbadblood’).Thisisa

toponymicrejectivephono-manticmatchingofPolishRadom,thenameof

atowninPoland(approximately100kmsouthofWarsaw),orofitsYiddish

adaptationródem(eUrielWeinreich1955:609,PaulWexler1991:42).

Thus,ifapogromhadoccurredinRadom,itwouldsurelyhavebeen

rationalizedbyradam‘ofbadblood’.Obviously,providingsuchan

etymythologicalexplanationforthepogromwasregardedbysomeJewsas

r,othersmighthaveconceivedofradamas

havingdeepintrinsictruth,whichmighthavebeenreligiouslyand

uldnotforgetthatatthattimeitwasa

commonbeliefthatalllanguageswereGod-createdandthatHebrewwasthe

divineUrsprache."[8]

Uoficonicitytohelpteachforeign

languages[edit]

Ithasbeensuggestedthaticonicitycanbeudintheteachingof

stbeing

“Horizontal-Iconicity”andthecondbeingvowelmagnitude

ntal-Iconicityisthephenomenonofoppositionof

mple,inEgyptianmer,whichmeansrighthand

andrem,epeoplearemorelikelytoremember

thingstheyhavemoreMnemonictagsfor,itissuggestedthatitmaybe

helpfultopointthethingsoutintheteachingoflanguage.[9]

Vowelmagnituderelationships[edit]

Vowelmagnituderelationshipssuggestthat,thelargertheobject,the

morelikelyitistohaveopenvowelsoundsinitsname—e.g./ɒ/,/eɪ/,

/æ/—whereas,thesmallertheobject,themorelikelyitistohave

aclodvowelsound—e.g./iː/,/ʊ/,/juː/.Openvowelsoundsarealso

morelikelytobeassociatedwithroundshapesanddarkorgloomymoods,

whereclodvowelsoundsaremorelikelytobeassociatedwithpointed

shapesandhappymoods.[9]

AtestrunbySapiraskedsubjectstodifferentiatebetweentwodifferent

sizedtablesusinginventedwordpairssuchas"mal"and"mil."He

discoveredawordcontaining[a]wasatfourtimesmorelikelytobejudged

aslargerifpairedwithawordcontaining[i].Inherpaper,Nuckolls

states:"Newmandiscoveredthat...asthetonguerecedesinarticulating

vowelsfromthefronttothebackofthemouth,andasacousticfrequencies

becomelower,thevowelsarejudgedtobelargeranddarker."Bentleyand

Varron(1933)rantestsaskingsubjectstodifferentiatebetweenvowel

soundswithoutprovidingthem,beforehand,contrastingattributes(such

asbrightanddark.)Theyfoundonlymoderatesuccessratesthatdecread

r,theystillfoundthat[a]

soundswerejudgedlargerorlowerthan[i]sounds.[10]

Inmorphology,examplesfromdegreeadjectives,suchaslong,longer,

longest,showthatthemostextremedegreeoflengthisiconically

on

,

iconicityisnowwidelyacknowledgedtobeasignificantfactoratmany

levelsoflinguisticstructure.[10]

IconicityandtheDigitalWorld[edit]

Overavenyearspan,MarcDavis,BrianWilliams,andGolanLevinhave

ationoftheir

programcalledMediaStreamswasderivedfromaneedandadesiretohave

ccessibilityis

becomingeasiertoobtainbytheday,andwiththisgrowthnewdevelopment

inthefieldisboundtohappen.

Mediaproductionwasoncelimitedtoanelitegroupofindividualswho

spentalargeportionoftheirtimetakingcoursandspecializingin

hthetechnologicaladvancementsandinternetuoftoday,

Daviswould

say,justastheprintingpresswasgiventotheursviaDesktop

Publishing,mediaproductioncannow,also,begiventothesameurs.

Streamingmediaisvastlygrowingandthemanipulationandreconstruction

ofthishottrendismorethanneededandnecessarytokeepthediversity

coming.

From1991–1997MarcDavisandhiscolleaguesworkedoutoftheMachine

UnderstandingGroupoftheMITLaboratoryandtheIntervalRearch

Corporationtocreatetheirmediastreamsprogram.

MediaStreams–“Isasystemforannotating,retrieving,repurposing,

andautomaticallyasmblingdigitalvideo.”(Davis;MediaStreams)The

systemusastreambad,manticreprentationofvideocontentwith

aniconicvisuallanguageinterfaceofhierarchicallystructuredand

archableprimitives.

Thegoalofthissystemistoaddresstheproblemsofannotation

pingtheiconic

visuallanguagewasnecessarytoassistthecomputationalreadingand

writingofreprentationalconnsualinterpretationsofvideocontent

rate,diverlanguagesandthelikewill

allbe