In:Iconic Investigations
Edited by Lars Elleström, Olga Fischer and Christina Ljungberg
[Iconicity in Language and Literature 12] 2013
► pp. 331–350
The lexical iconicity hierarchy and its grammatical correlates
Published online: 28 March 2013
https://doi.org/10.1075/ill.12.24aki
https://doi.org/10.1075/ill.12.24aki
This paper proposes an integrated account of the formal and functional non-uniformity exhibited by sound-symbolic words based on a hierarchy of lexical iconicity (i.e., iconicity of words). It is argued that the more iconic a vocalized sign is, the less strongly it is constrained by the linguistic system. This crosslinguistic generalization is instantiated by the lexical availability, morphophonology, syntax, semantics, and acquisition of sound-symbolic words.
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