There generally is no relationship between the sound of a word and its meaning.This characteristic of language is referred to as _______________.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The characteristic of language that refers to the lack of relationship between the sound of a word and its meaning is called arbitrariness. The other options are not accurate descriptions of this characteristic. Onomatopoeia refers to words that mimic or suggest the sound of what they describe, while unpredictability and randomness imply a sense of disorder or lack of pattern, which is not necessarily the case with linguistic arbitrariness.

There Generally Is No Relationship Between the Sound of a Word