On Arbitrariness And Motivation Of Linguistic Signs

The principle of arbitrariness of linguistic signs, put forward by Saussurein his famous book Course in General Linguistics, is taken as one of the mostimportant principles for understanding the whole of Saussure's theories. Thus,the study of arbitrariness of language has always been a heated topic in thelinguistic field both at home and abroad. For decades, researchers have beenstudying this subject, putting forward their own opinions or theirunderstanding of Saussure's theory. But so far, there is still not a satisfyingconclusion. In china, this issue has been under heated debate since Professor王寅published in 1999 his book On Iconicity of Linguistic Signs—AChallenge and a Complement to Saussure's Arbitrariness of Linguistic Signs.With the development of the contemporary Functionalism, people beginto challenge the arbitrary principle from perspective of iconicity andmotivation. This article makes a comprehensive study of Saussure's theory onarbitrariness, Peirce's theory of iconicity and some scholars'viewpoints onmotivation, and offers some comments on the theories. What's more, throughthe clarification and comparison of the three theories, the article shows that,so far as we know, language is both arbitrary and motivated. Motivation(including iconicity) and arbitrariness of linguistic signs, beingcomplementary and substantiated at different levels, are two inter-dependent functional principles of language organization, they co-exist in language. Onthe one hand, they are different; on the other hand, they are related to eachother. They are both the essence of the properties of language. Arbitrariness isa variable permeating from the beginning to the end in the whole process oflangauge, it supports the selectivity, diversity and irrationality of language;motivation is an ubiquitous impetus that supports the orderliness, justifiabilityand rationality of language.There are mainly five chapters in the paper. Chapter one states thedisputes on the nature of linguistic signs, and the author points out that thenature of linguistic signs has always been a basic issue in the history oflinguistic ideology and arbitrariness is not Saussure's original conception.However, the emphasis, which Saussure lays on it in his synchronic theory oflanguage, has drawn the attention of linguists. In order to have a morescientific and objective understanding of the relationship betweenarbitrariness and motivation, the author re-examines the concepts ofarbitrariness, iconicity and motivation respectively from chapter two tochapter four. And chapter five illustrates the complementary relationshipbetween arbitrariness and motivation.