Abstract
Abstract A standard view of language processing holds that lexical forms are arbitrary, and that non-arbitrary relationships between meaning and form such as onomatopoeias are unusual cases with little relevance to language processing in general. Here we capitalize on the greater availability of iconic lexical forms in a signed language (British Sign Language, BSL), to test how iconic relationships between meaning and form affect lexical processing. In three experiments, we found that iconicity in BSL facilitated picture–sign matching, phonological decision, and picture naming. In comprehension the effect of iconicity did not interact with other factors, but in production it was observed only for later-learned signs. These findings suggest that iconicity serves to activate conceptual features related to perception and action during lexical processing. We suggest that the same should be true for iconicity in spoken languages (e.g., onomatopoeias), and discuss the implications this has for general theories of lexical processing.
Highlights
Approaches to lexical processing, whether in comprehension or production, embed a core assumption that the relationship between word meaning and form is arbitrary
In Experiment 1 we use a picture–sign task in British Sign Language (BSL) to replicate the findings previously reported for American Sign Language (ASL) (Thompson et al, 2009) and, crucially, to assess whether iconicity effects are modulated by the typicality of the semantic features expressed iconically in the signs
In the present work we have shown that iconicity has general effects on comprehension and production, as a direct consequence of interplay between meaning and iconic forms: in particular the link between features related to perception and action, and phonological features
Summary
Approaches to lexical processing, whether in comprehension or production, embed a core assumption that the relationship between word meaning and form is arbitrary. The mapping between word meaning and form is not always arbitrary; and instances of meaningful, non-arbitrary (iconic) links between form and meaning such as onomatopoeia can be found (the use of speech sounds to mimic natural noises like ‘‘meow’’ and ‘‘quack’’). While such iconic relationships appear very limited in English, they are far more prevalent in many non Indo-European languages which have extensive repertoires of sound-symbolic words referring to sensory, motor and affective experience well beyond the limited extent of the acoustic domain covered by onomatopoeias (see Perniss, Thompson & Vigliocco, 2010).
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