Over het functionele karakter van taaltekens

In modern linguistics the principle that the linguistic sign is arbitrary, is a neglected, misunderstood truism. In fact, the arbitrary aspect of the linguistc sign is an epiphenomenon of its conventional character. From the functional point of view of language as a means of expression, the linguistic sign is not arbitrary, but an instrument for making meanings available through forms for communication and cognition. The arbitrariness principle is one of the factors that underlie the divorce in modern
linguistics between form and meaning oriented research. A divorce that passes over the principle of the unity of form and meaning, an indispensable guiding principle in linguistic research.