In daily life, Chinese speakers do not express iconicity (像似性, xiangsixing) by linking up the two Chinese characters 像 (xiang) and 似 (si), but rather tend to use 相似 (xiangsi) or 相像 (xiangxiang) or a single Chinese character—either 像 or 似—to describe two things that share common characteristics. Such usage is related to semiotics, but does not qualify as usage in the strict semiotic sense. As discussed in this study, 像似性 is a special term in semiotics.