Brings together 14 papers on various aspects of iconicity in language. Divided into four parts, the text covers the history of linguistics, semiotic theory, language description and linguistic theory, and sign systems other than verbal language.

1. Foreword: Under the Sign of Cratylus (by Simone, Raffaele); 2. I. History of Linguistics; 3. Criticisms of the Arbitrariness of Language in Leibniz and Vico and the 'Natural' Philosophy of Language (by Gensini, Stefano); 4. II. Semiotic Theory; 5. Interactions between Iconicity and Other Semiotic Parameters in Language (by Dressler, Wolfgang U.); 6. Iconicity and/or Arbitrariness (by Engler, Rudolf); 7. Isomorphism in the Grammatical Code: Cognitive and Biological Considerations (by Givon, T.); 8. The Icon as an Abductive Process towards Identity (by Ajello, Roberto); 9. III. Language Description and Linguistic Theory; 10. The Iconic Index: From Sound Change to Rhyming Slang (by Anttila, Raimo); 11. Iconicity in Grammaticalization Processes (by Giacalone Ramat, Anna); 12. Iconicity between Indicativity and Predicativity (by Seiler, Hansjakob); 13. Iconic Aspects of Syntax: A Pragmatic Approach (by Simone, Raffaele); 14. Figure and Ground in Second Language Narratives: Traces of Iconicity (by Orletti, Franca); 15. Morphological Markedness in L2 Acquisition (by Berretta, Monica); 16. IV. Sign Systems Other than Verbal Language; 17. Terms for Spatio-Temporal Relations in Italian Sign Language (by Antinoro Pizzuto, Elena); 18. Creative Iconic Gestures: some Evidence from Aphasics (by Magno Caldognetto, Emanuela); 19. Iconicity in Children's First Written Texts (by Pontecorvo, Clotilde); 20. Index