Arbitrary Reference

Human language is primarily symbolic in nature (as opposed to iconic or indexical): there is in general no inherent relationship between the nature of a linguistic sign and the nature of its referent. (1,2) This relationship is arbitrary and conventionalized within individual cultures. The one possible exception in human speech is what is known as “sound symbolism”, in which certain sounds over time come to be accepted as representing some aspect of physical reality via the same process of conventionalization, such as submorphemic elements like –ump in bump, hump, lump, mumps, rump, stump (but cf. dump, grump, jump, pump). (3) Representation in signed languages likewise often has roots in iconic and/or indexical gestures, but the exact conventionalization (i.e. the iconic and/or indexical feature singled out as most salient) varies widely across signed languages, and tends to abstract away from the iconic-indexical basis over time in any event. (4) No non-human species naturally uses symbolic representation in this strict sense, though some species have been trained to use limited symbolic systems of communication in laboratory settings. (5,6,7,8,9) Most naturally occurring animal communication is iconic and/or indexical in nature. The only possible exception would be alarm call systems in which particular types of vocalization are associated in an apparently arbitrary manner with particular predator types. (10) Such alarm calls are nonetheless indexically triggered by the presence of the predator in question (cf. "Meaning (semantics and pragmatics)," "Displaced reference," "Prevarication"). Certain cetacean and psittacine (parrot) species appear to develop "signature calls" that they use preferentially to communicate with particular conspecfics, however it is questionable whether these are actually referential in nature.(11)