articleFrontiers in PsychologyJan 1, 2010GOLD OA

Iconicity as a General Property of Language: Evidence from Spoken and Signed Languages

PPPamela PernissRLRobin L. ThompsonGVGabriella Vigliocco

University College London

PubMed
Indexed incrossrefdoajpubmed

Abstract

Current views about language are dominated by the idea of arbitrary connections between linguistic form and meaning. However, if we look beyond the more familiar Indo-European languages and also include both spoken and signed language modalities, we find that motivated, iconic form-meaning mappings are, in fact, pervasive in language. In this paper, we review the different types of iconic mappings that characterize languages in both modalities, including the predominantly visually iconic mappings found in signed languages. Having shown that iconic mapping are present across languages, we then proceed to review evidence showing that language users (signers and speakers) exploit iconicity in language processing…

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Authors

3

Topics & keywords

Topics
Keywords
  • Iconicity
  • Linguistics
  • Sign language
  • Computer science
  • Meaning (existential)
  • Modalities
  • Spoken language
  • Property (philosophy)
UN Sustainable Development Goals
  • Quality Education
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