由来已久的关于语言的任意性和象似性之争在20世纪80、90年代,随着功能语言学的崛起和对结构主义语言学及生成语法理论体系的反思,带来了几次集中的讨论,并都有论文集出版。1995年出版的以上文集,承上启下,与前一次会议的文集《句法中的象似性》(Haiman,1985)和后一次会议的文集《语言与文学中的象似性》(N(a|¨)nny et al.,1999)相比,讨论的范围更 The longstanding controversy over arbitrariness and iconicity of language led to several episodes in the 1980s and 1990s with the rise of functional linguistics and the reflection on the theoretical framework of structuralist linguistics and grammar generation Of the discussion, and have published a collection of papers. The above anthology published in 1995, in conjunction with the collection of the previous conference, “Iconicity in Syntax” (Haiman 1985) and the colloquia of the latter conference “Iconicity in Language and Literature” (N (a | ) nny et al., 1999)