On The Complementarity Of Arbitrariness And Iconicity In Linguistic Signs

Whether linguistic signs are arbitrary or not has been an ever-discussed and controversial issue in linguistic circle. During the recent years, a few linguists have argued that iconicity operates at every level of language (phonology, morphology, syntax) and even have asserted that iconicity is the most fundamental feature of linguistic signs.In order to find out the origin of the dispute, the author has examined Saussure's theory of the arbitrariness of language and Peirce's theory of iconicity respectively. It is found that arbitrariness and iconicity discussed by Saussure and Peirce lie in different levels of language and they are not contradictory to each other. To further expound the complementarity of arbitrariness and iconicity, the author examines language structure, the evolution of language and language use in communication. And from the above analysis we conclude that both arbitrariness and iconicity are fundamental features of linguistic signs. The two features are coexistent and complementary in language system and verbal communication.The empirical analysis focuses on the use of language on the Internet. By analyzing the language phenomena such as the use of acronyms, onomatopoeia, and signatures, the author demonstrates that there are both arbitrary and non-arbitrary elements in Internet communication.