IcoSem4

The 4th Iconicity Seminar

The Iconicity Seminar (IcoSem) is an international conference dedicated to linguistic iconicity, the resemblance between linguistic form and meaning.

The 4th Iconicity Seminar (IcoSem 4) will be held on 21-22 February 2026 at Nagoya University (Nagoya, Japan).

Invited speakers

TBA

Call for papers

We call for papers for 30-minute presentations (20min presentation + 10min Q&A) dealing with any aspect of linguistic iconicity, such as:

• Sound symbolism
• Onomatopoeia and ideophones
• Sign language iconicity
• Syntactic iconicity
• Iconicity and language change
• Iconicity in writing systems
• Phonaesthetics
• Phonaesthemes

Please send a 2-page abstract (including everything) in the following format:

• A4 paper
• 2.5cm margin
• 12pt Times New Roman

Please send your anonymized abstract to Hinano Iida. Your anonymous abstract will then be reviewed by two anonymous reviewers.

The deadline is 1 October 2025. Decisions will be communicated to you on a rolling basis within two weeks.

Join our Facebook group for iconicity

About Nagoya

Nagoya is a city located in central Japan.

The nearest international airports are:

• Chubu Centrair International Airport (Nagoya)
• Kansai International Airport (Osaka)
• Haneda Airport (Tokyo)
• Narita International Airport (Tokyo)

The attractions in Nagoya and nearby cities include:

• Nagoya Castle
• Hisaya-Odori Park
• Port of Nagoya Aquarium
• Ghibli Park (in Nagakute)
• Inuyama Castle (in Inuyama)

Organizers

• Hinano Iida
• Ian Joo