Abstract
Verbal sounds can be associated with specific meanings, a phenomenon called sound symbolism. Previous findings of sound symbolism have shown that words including specific consonants or vowels or mouth shapes to pronounce specific vowels associate with specific and subjective physical and emotional evaluations. The purpose of this study was to examine whether each written vowel in a given language was individually associated with specific subjective evaluations. Six hundred and thirteen participants used five-point semantic differential scales for 10 features (size, closeness, thickness, width, weight, height, depth, affection, excitement and familiarity) to rate written Japanese vowels (a, i, u, e, and o). The results showed that the size, closeness, thickness and width of a, u and o were significantly higher than those of i and e, whereas the affection and familiarity of a were higher than the others. These results were consistent with previous findings in which vowels in sound-symbolic words have been associated with physical (i.e., size, closeness, thickness and width) and emotional (i.e., affection) evaluations. Our findings suggest that each written Japanese vowel itself, with its individual characteristics, could individually contribute to specific and subjective physical and emotional evaluations. These findings provide insights on how we could better use letters for communicative relationships among writers and readers.
Highlights
In psycholinguistic studies, while the dominant phenomenon would be arbitrariness–that words are arbitrarily associated with referents (De Saussure, 1916)—the parallel or competing phenomenon, which may appear more strongly in some languages than others, is sound symbolism
We found correlations among the mean scores of subjective evaluations. These findings suggest that each written Japanese vowel could individually contribute to specific subjective evaluations
We examined whether each written Japanese vowel was associated with specific subjective features by using 10 semantic differential scales, respectively assessing subjective size, closeness, thickness, width, weight, height, depth, affection, excitement and familiarity
Summary
While the dominant phenomenon would be arbitrariness–that words are arbitrarily associated with referents (De Saussure, 1916)—the parallel or competing phenomenon, which may appear more strongly in some languages than others, is sound symbolism. This means that words, including specific vowels and consonants, are non-arbitrarily associated with specific sensorimotor and emotional features (Hamano, 1998; Imai and Kita, 2014; Sidhu and Pexman, 2019; Kawahara, 2020). Specific pseudowords (e.g., maluma or bouba) are significantly associated with round figures, while other specific pseudowords
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
