Premium
Reiconization
Author(s) -
BOLINGER DWIGHT
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
world englishes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.6
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1467-971X
pISSN - 0883-2919
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-971x.1988.tb00234.x
Subject(s) - meaning (existential) , reciprocal , expression (computer science) , linguistics , process (computing) , computer science , philosophy , epistemology , programming language , operating system
Reiconization refers to the process of reanalysis in which a meaningless or semantically opaque item is replaced by a new item with a transparent meaning. When the replaced ( deiconized ) item combines with other items to form a larger expression, the effect of reiconization is to maintain or restore the original meaning of the larger expression. This process is readily observable in the case of prepositions. For instance, the preposition of lacks a central meaning, and consequently, it is often replaced by the more iconic about or for , as in talk about rather than talk of . Similar examples can be found for other prepositions. Reiconization is not restricted to the replacement of prepositions, but operates at higher levels as well. The respecification of each in the reciprocal, each other , and the reanalysis evidenced by folk etymologies furnish examples of the operation of reiconization at different levels.