The iconic roots of language

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Walter A. Koch served as Professor of English Philology and General Semiotics at Ruhr-University Bochum from 1968 to 1999 and has been Professor Emeritus since. In 1984, he established the Bochum Semiotic Colloquy, fostering interdisciplinary symposia and research. He has edited BBS (Bochumer Beiträge zur Semiotik) and BPX (Bochum Publications in Evolutionary Cultural Semiotics). His primary interests include Semiotics, Cultural Semiotics, Theory of Literature and Poetry, Systems Theory, General Theory of Evolution, and Systems Philosophy. His notable publications include Varia Semiotica, Poetry and Science, Evolutionary Cultural Semiotics, The Biology of Literature, The Roots of Literature, and Systems: New Paradigms for the Human Sciences. The present collection of three essays, while originally intended for different contexts, collectively emphasizes the crucial role of ICONICITY in understanding the evolution of LANGUAGE and INFORMATION. This thesis challenges mainstream linguistic theories, positing ICONICITY as foundational for a holistic view of communication systems and the universe. It suggests that conventional language is deeply rooted in various forms of iconic imagination, implying that very few words are entirely arbitrary in their origins.