Symbols, icons, and sign processes

A comparison between signs & their value in linguistic & nonlinguistic sign processes results in a remarkable paradox. Whereas language may be considered the most developed & refined semiotic system, it lacks the most characteristic features of nonlinguistic sign systems, as the former is primarily symbolic & the latter are iconic to begin with. As a consequence, the linguistic &, more particularly, the semantic function is constrained by the necessity of learning the conventional signs - learning takes time - whereas no such constraints are necessarily experienced in relation to nonlinguistic semiotic systems (of course, language-based semiotic systems are left aside). The paradox is solved by the linguistic metafunctions: metareference & metaphor are basically iconic & parallel the sign function of nonlinguistic communicative processes. 45 References. HA