Abstract
Abstract Our article is dedicated to the relation of a given name’s phonological structure and the gender of the referent. Phonology has been shown to play an important role with regard to gender marking on a name in some (Germanic) languages. For example, studies on English and on German have shown in detail that female and male names have significantly different phonological structures. However, little is known whether these phonological patterns are valid beyond (closely related) individual languages. This study, therefore, sets out to assess the relation of gender and the phonological structures of names across different languages/cultures. In order to do so, we analyzed a sample of popular given names from 13 countries. Our results indicate that there are both language/culture-overarching similarities between names used for people of the same gender and language/culture-specific correlations. Finally, our results are interpreted against the backdrop of conventional and synesthetic sound symbolism.
Highlights
Our article is dedicated to the relation of a given name’s phonological structure and the gender of the referent
There has been little agreement yet: While some scholars interpret these correlations as instances of synesthetic sound symbolism (e.g., Cutler et al 1990; Oelkers 2003, 2004; Pitcher et al 2013; van de Weijer et al 2020; Whissell 2001) others argue in favor of conventional sound symbolism (e.g., Cassidy et al 1999; Hough 2000; Nübling 2018)
The basic questions we want to answer are: Are correlations of name phonology and gender language/culture-specific or are there language/cultureoverarching similarities? Which phonological properties indicate gender? we add a contrastive perspective to the discussion on sound symbolism in the domain of onymic gender marking
Summary
Names are usually said to have no lexical meaning. there is one piece of information, which is quite commonly coded in personal names: the name bearer’s gender (cf. Alford 1988: 66–68). There are different ways to mark gender on a given name including specific phonological structures (Section 1.1) This will be exemplified by studies on German and English (Section 1.2). These studies show that – in these particular languages – there are strong correlations between semantic (e.g., femininity) and phonological properties (see below) For both German and English, it has been discussed how these correlations relate to the concept of sound symbolism (cf Section 1.2). We want to add an important perspective to this discussion by considering a range of disparate languages/cultures This promises to shed new light on this topic as one important controversy centers around the question whether we are dealing with arbitrary and language/culturespecific cues to gender (i.e., conventional sound symbolism; see, e.g., Cassidy et al 1999: 378) or with non-arbitrary correlations, that are valid beyond individual languages/cultures (i.e., synesthetic sound symbolism; see, e.g., Oelkers 2003: 228).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
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 call
