The purpose of this study is to investigate the meaning aspects of iconic proximity in English. What belongs together mentally is placed close together syntactically. Iconic proximity is reflected in linguistic expressions such as followings : compoun...
The purpose of this study is to investigate the meaning aspects of iconic proximity in English. What belongs together mentally is placed close together syntactically. Iconic proximity is reflected in linguistic expressions such as followings : compound, infinitive, verb+object, adjective+adverb, the order of modifier, adverb+adverb, quantifier+classifier, and so forth. Linguistic structures are seen as being related to and motivated by human conceptual knowledge, bodily experience, and the communicative functions of discourse. Iconic proximity reflects the cognitive system of human beings. It is related to associative memory, spreading activation, and priming. The concept of iconicity stirred up a new thought that could overcome the biased view towards the arbitrariness which has been overemphasized.