Investigating the Motivational Mechanisms of Legislative Language through Peirce’s Semiotic Triad—A Case Study of Iconicity

立法语言作为规范社会关系的符号系统，其表意机制一直是法学与语言学交叉研究的核心议题。本文基于皮尔斯的符号三元论，突破索绪尔符号任意性理论的局限，重点分析立法语言的象似性特征，从顺序象似性、距离象似性和数量象似性三个维度，剖析立法语言如何通过符号理据性实现“规范世界”与“现实世界”的认知对接。研究发现，顺序象似性通过时间与事理逻辑的线性排列为法律条文构建认知框架；距离象似性借助语言单位的空间邻近细化法律关系的亲疏界定；数量象似性则通过语言材料的复杂程度凸显法律概念的重要性。三种象似性相互协同，共同增强法律文本的清晰性、严谨性和权威性，使其更符合人类认知规律，便于司法实践和社会公众的理解与遵守。As a symbolic system governing social relations, the meaning-making mechanism of legislative language has long been a central topic in interdisciplinary research between law and linguistics. Moving beyond Saussure’s theory of arbitrariness, this paper adopts Peirce’s triadic model of signs to analyze the iconic features of legislative language, focusing on iconicity sequencing, iconic proximity, and iconic quantity. It examines how legislative language bridges the “normative world” and the “real world” through motivated sign relations. The study reveals that iconicity sequencing constructs a cognitive framework for legal provisions by aligning linguistic order with temporal and logical sequences. Iconic proximity refines the delineation of legal relationships through the spatial closeness of linguistic units, while iconic quantity highlights the significance of legal concepts via the complexity of linguistic material. These three forms of iconicity operate synergistically to enhance the clarity, precision, and authority of legal texts, ensuring alignment with human cognitive patterns and facilitating comprehension and compliance in judicial practice and public discourse.