Abstract

RODRIGUEZ, Fernando G.. The principle of arbitrariness and synaesthetic motivation in language. Leng. [online]. 2023, vol.51, n.1, pp.92-115.  Epub Jan 30, 2023. ISSN 0120-3479.  https://doi.org/10.25100/lenguaje.v51i1.12158.

The Saussurean principle of arbitrariness of the linguistic sign has been relativized from the casuistry of phonetic, morphological and semantic motivation. From the first one in particular, it is convenient to distinguish the level of onomatopoeia itself, which rescues sound qualities to use them in the making of signs, and that concerning other mechanisms of preserving the referent physical qualities that do not belong to the sphere of sound (synaesthetic motivation). In this paper, after reviewing the Course of General Linguistics in the passages most directly related to this problem, I offer an overview of the most important studies in the 21st century that, from the rehabilitated synaesthetic motivation, have challenged the preeminence and exclusivity of arbitrariness as a principle for shaping language signs. The interpretation that best corresponds to the results of such studies is discussed in order to suggest, as a conclusion, that this variety of motivation between signifier and signified should be more openly acknowledged in order to understand, in the most appropriate way, all aspects of language in its complex reality.

Keywords : language; psychology; arbitrariness; motivation; symbolism; transmodal correspondences.

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