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The iconicity toolbox: empirical approaches to measuring iconicity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2019

YASAMIN MOTAMEDI ,
HANNAH LITTLE ,
ALAN NIELSEN  and
JUSTIN SULIK
YASAMIN MOTAMEDI
Affiliation:
Department of Experimental Psychology, University College London
HANNAH LITTLE
Affiliation:
University of the West of England
ALAN NIELSEN
Affiliation:
University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada
JUSTIN SULIK
Affiliation:
Cognition, Values, Behaviour, Faculty of Philosophy, Ludwig Maximilian University, and Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London
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Abstract

Growing evidence from across the cognitive sciences indicates that iconicity plays an important role in a number of fundamental language processes, spanning learning, comprehension, and online use. One benefit of this recent upsurge in empirical work is the diversification of methods available for measuring iconicity. In this paper, we provide an overview of methods in the form of a ‘toolbox’. We lay out empirical methods for measuring iconicity at a behavioural level, in the perception, production, and comprehension of iconic forms. We also discuss large-scale studies that look at iconicity on a system-wide level, based on objective measures of similarity between signals and meanings. We give a detailed overview of how different measures of iconicity can better address specific hypotheses, providing greater clarity when choosing testing methods.

Keywords

iconicitymethodssystematicity
Type
Special Issue on Iconicity
Information
Language and Cognition , Volume 11 , Issue 2: Special Issue on Iconicity , June 2019 , pp. 188 - 207
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Copyright
Copyright © UK Cognitive Linguistics Association 2019 

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