Diagrams and metaphors: Iconic aspects in language*

The problem of iconicity has been a recurring theme in linguistic inquiry into the nature of the linguistic sign. The property of iconicity includes not only the narrow category of sound symbolism, but also the broad categories of isomorphism and metaphor. This paper surveys recent research, and offers a classification of diagrammatic and metaphorical iconicity in language. Problems of structural diagram, relational diagram, grammatical metaphor, conventional metaphor and poetic metaphor are discussed, with a few illustrative examples. This review shows that an evaluation of the property of iconicity in language has implications for the general theory of language as a ‘natural’ phenomenon.