Iconicity in formational properties of signs in sign languages

Abstract This chapter provides an overview of how iconicity manifests on the sublexical level of signs in sign languages; that is, how sublexical parameters of signs such as location, movement, handshape, and number of hands can be motivated iconically and contribute to the overall meaning of the sign. Even limiting the discussion to iconicity in which some formational aspect of the sign resembles a physical referent, it is still clear that in sign languages, sublexical iconicity is an extremely widespread phenomenon. This chapter argues that the ubiquity of such iconic motivations on the sublexical level suggests that iconicity is an important property of sign languages and needs to be accounted for in linguistic theories.