Icono: a universal language that shows what it says

Abstract

This article lays out the foundation of a new language for easier written communication that is inherently reader-friendly and inherently international. Words usually consist of strings of sounds or squiggles whose meanings are merely a convention. In Icono, instead, they typically are strings of icons that illustrate what they stand for. “Train,” for example, is expressed with the icon of a train, “future” with the icon of a clock surrounded by a clockwise arrow, and “mammal” with the icons of a cow and a mouse—their combination’s meaning given by what they have in common. Moreover, Icono reveals sentence structure graphically before, rather than linguistically after, one begins reading. On smartphones and computers, writing icons can now be faster than writing alphabetic words. And using simple pictures as words helps those who struggle with conditions like dyslexia, aphasia, cerebral palsy, and autism with speech impairment. Because learning its pronunciation or phonetic spelling is optional rather than a prerequisite, and because it shows what it says, Icono is bound to be easier to learn to read—and then easier to read—than any other language, including our own.

Iconic logic: the visual art of drawing the right conclusion

“…Most likely he deemed drawing these pictures “insufferably inconvenient” for scribes too. Yet pictures are literally easier to picture, and also easier to remember, than are abstract words or letters ( Kramer, 2023 ). Using pictures is thus more ergonomic.…”

“…It would thus seem preferable to reinstate this idea as well (compare Figures 4 , 5 ). Wherever this seems helpful, I represent propositions and concepts not with abstract tokens but with black-on-white icons and their negation with white-on-black ones (see also Kramer, 2023 ).…”

“…Arguing for a more ergonomic representation of knowledge, Wood (2023 , p. 1) observes that “if knowledge were simpler, we would all be wiser.” Likewise, it stands to reason that if logic burdened semantic memory less, we would all argue better. And as icons are better mnemonics than symbols are ( Kramer, 2023 ), iconic logic is more ergonomic than symbolic logic is. Although strong analytical thinkers may certainly benefit from iconic over symbolic logic, those who need a reasoning tool the most ought to benefit the most too.…”

Iconic Logic: The Visual Art of Drawing the Right Conclusion

“…It is these icons that allow iconic logic to be more intuitive than symbolic logic can ever be. The icons that are the easiest to process, picture in one's mind, and remember, represent only the essential features or gist of what they stand for and leave out irrelevant details (Kramer, 2023). So, although a photo of a train resembles a train more than a highly simplified drawing of it does, iconic logic uses the latter, minimalist type of icons rather than the former, more complex ones.…”

“…Most likely he deemed drawing these pictures "insufferably inconvenient" for scribes too. Yet, because modern technology can make scribing these pictures much less trouble than before, and because pictures are easier to picture and remember than are abstract words or letters (Kramer, 2023), I once again put the interests of the reader first rather than those of the scribe (compare Figures 4 and 5). More precisely, wherever possible, I represent propositions and concepts in black-on-white and their negation in white-on-black (see also Kramer, 2023).…”