iconicity

Iconicity is the property of signs in language and semiotics whereby the form of a sign bears a resemblance to, or is motivated by, its meaning. It stands in contrast to arbitrariness, the view that form and content are unrelated—a view long associated with Ferdinand de Saussure.

In semiotics, the term is often linked to the wider Peircean framework. Charles Peirce distinguishes icons (signs that resemble their objects), indices (signs with a causal or contextual connection), and symbols (signs whose relation to their objects is conventional and arbitrary). Iconicity is primarily about resemblance, but real communication typically combines multiple relations.

In language, iconicity appears in onomatopoeia and ideophones—forms whose sound or shape evokes sensory qualities. Sound symbolism refers to systematic, nonarbitrary associations between phonetic form and meaning, and researchers have documented cross-linguistic patterns in which certain sounds convey size, sharpness, or intensity.

In sign languages and gesture, iconicity is common: signs may depict features of their referents through handshape, movement, or spatial relation. Yet most lexicon remains conventional and arbitrary, and iconic form can be constrained by phonotactics, morphology, and the need for distinct signs.

Cognitive and developmental studies show that iconicity can aid recall, prediction, and rapid mapping of form to meaning, especially for children or learners of a second language. Iconicity is viewed as a gradient property rather than a binary one and varies across languages and domains.