In functional-cognitive linguistics, as well as in semiotics, iconicity's the conceived similarity or analogy between a form of a sign (linguistic or otherwise) and its meaning, as opposed to arbitrariness. Iconic principles: Quantity principle: conceptual complexity corresponds to formal complexity Proximity principle: conceptual distance tends to match with linguistic distance Sequential order principle: the sequential order of events described's mirrored in the speech chain Quantity princip… (More on Iconicity)