3: Iconicity and the role of image schemas in motivation 17

3. Iconicity and the role of image schemas in motivation

3.1. Iconicity in language

The notion of iconicity

iconicity can be contrasted with arbitrariness, or in Peirces terms, iconic is the oppo-
site of symbolic
what we now call iconicity was until fairly recently restricted to mainly onomatopoe-
ia
in consequence, iconicity was largely neglected in linguistic theory, as it constituted
a marginal phenomenon in the lexicon of a language
at best, the notion was expanded to encompass sound symbolism, but at least in the
Indo-European family, languages seemed to make little use of such a device
in its crudest formulation, Saussures principle of the arbitrariness of the linguistic
sign stated that there was nothing X-like about a word X in any given language
the form and meaning of a word were regarded as independent of each other
the principle of iconicity challenges the monopoly of arbitrariness
this does not mean that there is more onomatopoeia or sound symbolism in the
worlds languages than has been commonly assumed.
admittedly, sound symbolism cannot be completely ignored, as certain languages
clearly make more use of it than others
iconicity can be found not only in language but also in other domains of the world of
signs
in general, there is iconicity if something in the form of a sign reflects something in
the world (normally through a mental operation)
for language, this means that something in the form of a linguistic sign reflects
(through its meaning) something in its referent (Mayerthaler 1980, 1988)
in this respect, it is no coincidence that it was a philosopher who elaborated on dif-
ferent kinds of signs, among them icons: Charles Sanders Peirce established the
classic conception of iconicity
in linguistics, however, iconicity is a relatively recent term, even though the phe-
nomenon as such has been studied ever since the Ancient Greeks, in particular since
Platos Cratylus
modern ideas of iconicity date back only to the twentieth century and even then did
not find a place either in non-functional structuralist or in generative theories
thus, Saussure spent only a few pages on onomatopoeia ([1916] 1967 1012) and the
notion motive (18084)
he introduced the concept of motivation to describe compound signs like the French
word dix-neuf nineteen
although the components of this word are themselves arbitrary, the compound is, in
contrast, relatively motivated
in Noam Chomskys opinion, the structure of the grammatical system does not re-
flect the properties of the world but relatively independent properties of the human
mind (see especially Chomsky 1972, 1980; cf. Newmeyer 1992):
Part 2: Motivation in language 18

Our interpretation of the world is based in part on representational systems that

derive from the structure of the mind itself and do not mirror in any direct way the
form of things in the external world. (Chomsky 1981: 3)

Cognitive Linguistics assumes that a number of linguistic structures reflect the

worlds structure and not the brains

The trichotomy of signs: symbol, index, icon

in Peirces (1974: 2.249) terminology:

A Symbol is a sign which refers to the Object that it denotes by virtue of a law, usu-
ally an association of general ideas, which operates to cause the Symbol to be inter-
preted as referring to that Object.

most words of natural languages are symbols, or conventional signs, or in Saus-

sures terminology: arbitrary signs (as shown by the fact that in different, genet-
ically unrelated languages the same sense is expressed by different forms; for exam-
ple, lion in English corresponds to simba in Swahili)
the traffic sign of an inverted triangle is one such symbol: it does not have a natural
link between its form and its meaning give right of way.

the second sign distinguished by Peirce is the index:

An Index is a sign which refers to the Object that it denotes by virtue of being really
affected by that Object (2.248).

there is a kind of causal relationship between the index and the object: for example,
smoke is an index of fire, but if the fire is put out, the remaining smoke is no longer
an index

the third sign is the icon:

An Icon is a sign which refers to the Object that it denotes merely by virtue of char-
acters of its own, and which it possesses, just the same, whether any such Object ac-
tually exists or not (2.247)

everything can be an icon of everything provided it resembles a certain object and it

is used as a sign for that object
these three kinds of signs hardly ever occur in their pure form: most actual signs are
a mixture of the three types, as is illustrated by instances of onomatopoeia (this is
why dogs say wafwaf in Dutch, but wauwau in German)
the three types of signs may be represented as in Table 1 and reflect general princi-
ples of coping with forms and meanings
3: Iconicity and the role of image schemas in motivation 19

Activitiy 3.1. What types of sign are involved in the following cases?

a. inverted triangle as a road sign

b sign depicting falling rocks
c. morse signs
d. frozen window panes of a car
e. speedometer in a car
f. burglar alarm going off
g. baby crying
h. dog wagging its tail
i. animal drawings in cave dwellings
j. a wedding ring
k. a clenched fist in the air
l. a ring in the nose (human)

concentrating on icons, Peirce again distinguishes three subclasses:

o imagic icon,
o metaphor,
o diagram

the image is the prototype of an icon: it is a simple sign that resembles its referent by
virtue of sensory characteristics
these may be visual, as in a photograph, a statue, or a painting, but they may also be
auditory, as in program music, that is, music that renders feelings or perceptions
in natural language, the obvious example of imagic iconicity is onomatopoeia (a fig-
ure of sound) , for example, in interjections like cuckoo and cock-a-doodle-do
etymology: Late Latin, from Greek onomatopoiia, from onomat-, onoma name +
poiein to make, meaning:
1. the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it
2. the use of words whose sound suggests the sense
a metaphor, in Peirces view, brings out the representative character of a sign by rep-
resenting a parallelism in something else; for example, a lion may represent a (brave)
man
our main concern here is with the diagram, or diagrammatic icon
according to Peirce (1974: 2.277), diagrammatic icons are those which represent the
relations... of the parts of one thing by analogous relations in their own parts.
Part 2: Motivation in language 20

in other words, a diagram is a systematic arrangement of signs that do not by them-

selves necessarily resemble their referents but whose mutual relations reflect the rela-
tions between their referents
more specifically, the constellation of the object and of its diagram is similar, but the
individual referents and the individual signs themselves need not resemble each other
we must be aware of a continuum: there is a cline from an almost pure image, for in-
stance, a photo (with a resemblance between individual referents and individual
signs) and a pure diagram, where there is no such resemblance, for instance, a
technical diagram, as the individual signs, that is, the circle, the dash, and the dots,
bear no resemblance to reality, but the constellation does, so we can still identify this
picture as a face
the iconic principles which have been proposed in literature are the iconic quantity
of linguistic material, iconic proximity, and iconic sequencing

The principle of iconic quantity of linguistic material

in linguistics, motivational iconicity has mostly to do with markedness

this concept is often captured in the slogan the more form, the more meaning
the more (marked) complex the form of a sign (or of a constellation of signs), the
more (marked) complex the meaning will be
this markedness principle can take the shape of a binary relation or of a cline from
unmarked to most marked, a gradation gamut (Jakobson 1966)
however, the question remains how to define complexity
with regard to form, complexity can be held to be a function of the number of mor-
phemes (not of syllables)
for instance, the plural book-s is more complex or marked than the singular book
note that such oppositions do not hold in every case or in every language
both the marked and the unmarked value may be expressed in the same way, as in
sheep
still, a case such as sheep is not considered a counterexample; it is only when the re-
verse holds, that is, when the unmarked form is heavier than the marked one that we
have an exception, provided that semantic markedness is preserved
another example of this is the treatment of number in Indonesian
the plural in Indonesian is iconically formed by reduplicating the word, i.e. following
the principle of quantity
thus while orang means human being, orang-orang means human beings
significantly, the latter form applies not only to two people, but also to more than
two
for reasons of economy, the morpheme is not repeated more than once according to
the real quantity, although this would in fact be more iconic if one spoke about more
than two people

categories such as tense, aspect, and mood often manifest iconic reflexes of marked
versus unmarked values
for tense, we know that since the prototypical speaker speaks in the present by defini-
tion (the time of the speech act), the present tense is semantically unmarked with re-
spect to the past
3: Iconicity and the role of image schemas in motivation 21

this is iconically reflected by the fact that most languages have zero for the present
but an overt form for the past, compare English I work with I work-ed and French je
travaille with je travaill-ais
as for mood, it can safely be stated that the speech act time is also the most real time.
potential or unreal events are rendered by potentialis and irrealis, which show a more
marked form than the present or even the past indicative, consider French je travaill-
er-ais I would work

looking at adjectives, we typically find iconicity in the expression of the degrees of

comparison
in a number of languages, the comparative is more marked than the positive degree
and often the superlative is more marked than the comparative
therefore, a comparative statement can be paraphrased with a negative statement
(e.g., John is taller than Mary vs Mary is not so tall as John), while the superlative
would imply that nobody is as tall as John
this is reflected morphosyntactically: tall<tall-er<tall-est
in Latin, we find a similar gradation: longus< long-ior<long-issimus

Activity 3.2. What types of meaning are associated with the following reduplicated
verbs from Tok Pisin?

askim askim to ask around, to ask repeatedly, to beg

brukbruk to break [intr.] in several places, to come apart
gogo to walk fast, to go around a great deal
helpim helpim to help here and there, to help many people, to help one another
hipim hipim to pile up [tr.] in great quantities, to pile up [tr.] in great variety
joinim joinim to attach [many things] together
katim katim to cut into several pieces, to cut in several places
kraikrai (also spelled krai krai) to cry loudly, to keep crying
paitim paitim to keep beating, to keep hitting, to keep pounding
raun raun to wander around
sakim sakim to keep shaking [tr.]
salim salim to send in large numbers, to send in several directions
singsing to sing songs, to perform dances
slekim slekim to keep slackening
smelim smelim to sniff at things

The principle of iconic proximity

elements that occur closely together and form a unity in experience will tend to be
related to each other by the prototypical speaker on the content level as well
conversely, what is separated will be seen as unrelated conceptually
Haiman (1983: 782) speaks about the reflection of conceptual distance or separation
by physical (morphosyntactic) distance or separation
put in a simple slogan, The distance between expressions corresponds to the con-
ceptual distance between the ideas they represent
there are many gradations in how loosely or tightly two situations are integrated
Part 2: Motivation in language 22

a weak conceptual link between two situations is matched by a weak grammatical

link and typically finds expression in juxtaposition
according to the principle of conceptual distance, juxtaposed sentences are separated
from each other and constitute independent grammatical units
their separation is clearly signalled by falling intonation and an intonation break in
spoken language, as in the juxtaposed sentences I saw the burglar He ran away
in written language, juxtaposition is marked by a full stop
a number of different syntactic constructions can be evoked as examples

degrees of transitivity can also be signalled in the way the affected entity is ex-
pressed
consider the following pair of sentences, in which the theme is expressed as a direct
object or a prepositional object
(1)a. My girlfriend cheated me. [direct object]
b. My girlfriend cheated on me. [prepositional object]
the use of the direct object in (1a) suggests a direct effect of the agents action on a
person
the sentence might be said in the context of my girlfriend selling me a lemon as a car
cheating a person directly normally applies to situations in which the person is de-
ceived by fraud
the use of a prepositional object in (1b) suggests a less direct effect of the action
the sentence might be said in the context of being unfaithful to ones partner
in this case, the girlfriends actions are directed towards another man
the direct and prepositional objects in the sentences under (1) iconically reflect di-
rectness and indirectness of effect
the direct object is in immediate proximity to the verb, while the prepositional object
is separated from the verb by the preposition

distance iconicity affects the expression of certain grammatical relations

by definition, prepositional objects show a greater physical distance with the verb
than direct objects
this seems to correspond with greater conceptual distance
consider the famous pair of examples in (2):
(2)a. He smeared the wall with paint.
b. He smeared paint on the wall.
in the so-called holistic reading of (2a), the whole wall is painted whereas this is
normally not the case in (2b), where a partial reading is most likely
the greater affectedness of the patient in (2a) is reflected by the fact that the wall in
(2a),
being a direct object, is closer to the verb than in (10b), where it is separated from the
verb by a preposition

another example of the iconicity of distance is found with verbs of perception

usually, a distinction is made between direct perception (as in 3a) and indirect
perception (as in 3b):
(3)a. I hear him sing(ing).
b. I hear that he sings/is singing.
3: Iconicity and the role of image schemas in motivation 23

different things are meant by the two constructions, which leads to different syntactic
possibilities
in the that-clause, we have two propositions that can differ in terms of tense and mo-
dality; consider in this respect also (3c) and (3d):
(3)c. I hear that he sang/was to sing.
d. *I hear him being to sing.
sentence (3c) encodes an indirect perception: there clearly are two events, iconically
represented by two propositions
in sentence (3a), this is not the case: we have to do here with one event, one proposi-
tional Gestalt with only one tense and one modality (cf. 3d)

a given noun phrase may, of course, be qualified by more than one premodifier ad-
jective.
if scalar and deadverbial adjectives co-occur, they also have a preferred order: an in-
telligent reliable expert sounds more natural than a reliable intelligent expert
apparently, the deadverbial property reliability is more essential to expertise than
the scalar property intelligence
the order among purely characterising adjectives is also determined by the iconic
principle of proximity
the more relevant and stable a property is, the nearer the adjective is placed to its
head noun, and vice versa
for example, the colour of a persons skin is permanent but ones intelligence much
less so: stupid white man is therefore the natural order

The principle of iconic sequencing

the iconic principle of sequential order says that the temporal order of events in the
conceived world is mirrored in the order of clauses describing them
word-order iconicity is found in the ordering of events in narrative sequences, which
tends to reflect closeness in time
according to Greenberg (1966b: 103): The order of elements in language parallels
that in physical experience or the order of knowledge.
this is especially evident in asyndetic and coordinate structures, where a series of
coded events is least disturbed by intervening linguistic elements
a classic illustration of this principle is Caesars famous exclamation Veni, vidi, vici
I came, I saw, I conquered, when he described his victory over King Pharnaces II
of Pontus
the chronological order of these three events is iconically reflected in the order in
which they are uttered or written
a modern version of this principle would be the shopping slogan Eye it, try it, buy it
however, even this kind of motivation is not universal: a number of South-East Asian
languages deviate: a native speaker of Burmese will understand that a series of in-
structions are to be followed in the order given only if the sequence is marked by ex-
tra grammatical signs, otherwise, the instructions are to be carried out simultaneously
(Haiman 1980: 533)

a second kind of iconic ordering involves the concept of closeness to the speaker
(egocentricity/anthropocentricity)
Part 2: Motivation in language 24

what is nearest to the speaker in a literal (physical) or in a metaphorical sense is men-

tioned first, especially again in asyndetic or in fixed coordinate structures
this principle is found to be at work in various ways
literal closeness to the speaker is involved in spatio-temporal conjunctions like the
English, Polish, and French freezes (fixed collocations, see Landsberg 1995):
(5)a. English: here and there, this and that, now and then, sooner or later
b. Polish: tu i tam here and there
c. French: a et l here and there, tt ou tard sooner or later
the initial motivation for putting here, now, and sooner in first position apparently
derives from the speakers viewpoint

a special perceptual principle of figure and ground applies when two or more units
of different salience are related
the possessive construction with the genitive is particularly well-suited with salient
entities as reference points because it then iconically reflects the order of processing:
the salient reference point is processed before the target referent
the task of mental processing may, however, require quite some effort if more than
one reference point is involved, as in
(8) Lilys fathers friends sons summerhouse.

Activity 3.3. Which iconic principles operate in the first sentences of the following
pairs of sentences as opposed to the second sentences?

a. I heard Sue come home. versus I heard Sue when she came home.
b. The ambulance came and rescued the child. versus ?The ambulance rescued the child
and came.

Activity 3.4. Young children tend to understand sentence (a) correctly, but not sen-
tences (b) and (c). How would they interpret them and why?

a. John played before Mary sang.

b. John played after Mary sang.
c. Before Mary sang, John played.

Activity 3.5. In what way are the following expressions iconic?

a. the Krio word for earthquake is shaky-shaky

b. department store ad: We have rails and rails and rails of famous fashion
c. Police warning: Dont drink and drive!
d. Japanese ie house, ieie houses
3: Iconicity and the role of image schemas in motivation 25

e. See Naples and die.

f. I swear by Almighty God that what I am about to say is the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth.

3.2. The role of image schemas in motivation

Johnson (1987) argues that quite a lot of our conceptual world is structured according
to a small number of what he calls image schemas, i.e. general, recurring dynamic
patterns of bodily experience which come into existence as a result of our perceptual
interactions and motor programs which can be instantiated in a wide range of do-
mains where they lend coherence to our experience:

... human bodily movement, manipulation of objects, and perceptual interactions in-
volve recurring patterns without which our experience would be chaotic and incom-
prehensible. I call these patterns image schemata, because they function primarily
as abstract structures of images. (Johnson 1987: xix)

image schemas are:

imagistic, that is, they are representations of kinetic and perceptual experiences.
non-propositional
schematic, as they are not restricted to any particular activity or perception (in virtue
of their abstractness, or schematicity, it becomes possible for indefinitely many percep-
tions, images, and events to be structured in analogous ways)
abstract as they lack the specificity of rich images or mental pictures, they are at a
level of generality and abstractness above concrete, rich images

A selective list of image schemas

IN-OUT UP-DOWN FRONT-BACK

CONTAINER BALANCE COMPULSION
BLOCKAGE COUNTERFORCE RESTRAINT REMOVAL
ENABLEMENT ATTRACTION MASS-COUNT
PATH LINK CENTRE-PERIPHERY
CYCLE NEAR-FAR SCALE
PART-WHOLE MERGING SPLITTING
FULL-EMPTY MATCHING SUPERIMPOSITION
ITERATION CONTACT PROCESS
SURFACE OBJECT COLLECTION

as it is difficult to define image schemas in a concise and concrete manner, a com-

mon strategy has been to explain the notion by way of examples.

example: how Johnson (1987) and Gibbs and Colston (1995) illustrate the image
schema BALANCE:
Part 2: Motivation in language 26

We can illustrate what is meant by the notion of image schema, and how its internal
structure is projected onto new domain via metaphor, by considering the balance
schema. ...
The idea of balance is something that is learned with our bodies and not by grasp-
ing a set of rules (Johnson 1987: 74).

Balancing is such a pervasive part of our bodily experience that we are seldom
aware of its presence in everyday life. We come to know the meaning of balance
through the closely related experiences of bodily equilibrium or loss of equilibrium.
For example, a baby stands, wobbles, and drops to the floor. It tries again and again,
as it learns how to maintain a balanced erect posture. A young boy struggles to stay
up on a two-wheeled bicycle as he learns to keep his balance while riding down the
street. Each of us has experienced occasions when we have too much acid in our
stomachs, when our hands get cold, our heads feel too hot, our bladders feel dis-
tended, our sinuses become swollen, and our mouths feel dry. In these and numerous
other ways we learn the meanings of lack of balance or equilibrium. We respond to
imbalance and disequilibrium by warming our hands, giving moisture to out mouths,
draining our bladders, and so forth until we feel balanced again. Our BALANCE im-
age schema emerges, then, through our experiences of bodily equilibiums and dise-
quilibiums and of maintaining our bodily systems and functions in states of equilib-
rium. We refer to these recurring bodily experiences as image schemas to emphasize
means of structuring particular experiences schematically so that we can give order
and connectedness to our perceptions and conceptions. (Gibbs and Colston 1995:
349-50)

the notion of balance emerges, primarily, through our experience of maintaining an

upright posture.
the balancing experience involves a point or axis around which forces and weights
must be distributed so that they counteract or balance off one another (Johnson
1987: 350).
the notion gets extended to other domains, such as bodily systems, psychological
states (a balanced personality), judgements (a balanced opinion), financial situa-
tions (a balanced budget), artistic composition, power relations (a balance of pow-
er), and several more (a balanced opinion is one which establishes an equilibrium
between opposing views, weighing one set of views against the otherthe pri-
marily kinetic notion of balance comes to structure a large number of abstract do-
mains.

Activity 3.6. Identify some image schemas associated with the English word out, as
illustrated by expressions like the following.

out of the box figure out blow out (e.g. a candle)

spread out throw out go out (e.g. a light or candle)
dish out outfield work out (a problem)
outlying cut out hand out
find out make out (as in make out a shape)

one of the first experiences babies have:

o body as a container (IN-OUT), by receiving food and putting things in
their mouths.
3: Iconicity and the role of image schemas in motivation 27

o UP-DOWN is dictated by gravity and the erect adult posture, itself an

achievement of BALANCE
o FIGURE-GROUND and SOURCE-PATH-GOAL all derive from the way our
senses work (primarily sight and hearing, but touch, taste, and smell as
well), and from our experience of ourselves and other objects moving
through space

image schemas are available as input for metaphors (in the source domain) and me-
tonymies, but they can have a motivating force of their own