Abstract:The arbitrariness of linguistic signs advocated by Ferdinand de Saussure means that the relationship between the “signifier” and the “signified” is immotivated The “signifier” does not refer to the physical sound, but the sound image left in the mind of man Nor does the “signified” refer to the physical substances, but the notion standing for the substances There exist no natural links or motivations between the sound image and the notion As for a particular language, there exists a very low degree of iconicity in such sound signs as onomatopoeic words, but some motivations can be found among such writing signs as pictographic characters, compound words and derivatives