Problems With The Authors' Examples Of 'Iconicity'

Doran, Martin & Herrington (2024: 209):

For a lesson on mitosis for example, we can ask to what extent the teacher proceeds step-by-step through the stages as they unfold (e.g. from interphase, through prophase, metaphase, and anaphase to telophase) or whether the class moves around a bit or works backwards chronologically, beginning with the telophase where the nuclear membrane reforms as the cell divides and working back towards the originating single cell. 

We can also ask questions about iconicity with respect to the organisation of single events. In the following example, the teacher first refers to what happens in the synthesis stage as you duplicate the chromosome – with what happens construed as a verb (duplicate). The absence of this process before synthesis in her following comment is rephrased as without duplication into the chromosome – with what happens construed as a noun (duplication). In the initial phrase the grammar matches what happens more closely than in the second, since the event is realised verbally rather than nominally.

Reviewer Comments:

[1] To be clear, any 'iconicity' in this example is in the relation between the ideational meanings of the teacher-students text and the ideational meanings of the text they are using to learn about mitosis.

[2] To be clear, the relative 'iconicity' in this example is the relative congruence between ideational semantics and ideational grammar.