Articulation contributes to valence sound symbolism.

Abstract

Vowels are sound-symbolically associated with valence. Specifically, words containing /i/ (vs. /o/) are judged more suitable to denote positive (vs. negative) objects. Here, we examine the psychological processes driving valence sound symbolism by testing competing predictions for the vowel /y/. The articulatory hypothesis predicts /y/ to be associated with negative valence, because its articulation inhibits smiling; while the pitch-based hypothesis predicts /y/ to be associated with positive valence, because of its high intrinsic pitch. In four experiments, /i/ was associated with more positive valence than both /o/ and /y/ when reading (Experiments 1-3) and when hearing words (Experiment 4). The more negative valence of /y/ compared with /i/ supports the articulatory hypothesis; the similar (or even more negative) valence of /y/ compared with /o/ contradicts the pitch-based hypothesis. Thus, the present finding suggests that valence sound symbolism has its basis rather in articulatory than auditory phoneme properties. This advances our understanding of psychological processes in valence-vowel associations and in sound symbolism more generally. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).