Sound-symbolic Words Research Articles

Phonetic Variability as a Significant Feature of Sound-Symbolic Words

Phonetic Variability as a Significant Feature of Sound-Symbolic Words

Stimuli Selection Criteria for the Experiment “Visual Perception of Imitative Words in Native and Non-Native Language by the Method Lexical Decision”

Introduction. The present article is aiming to describe the procedure of stimuli selection for the psycho-semantic experiment on visual perception of imitative words in native (Russian) and non-native language (English). The methodology of the experiment is predominantly based on the implementation of the “lexical decision” method. Thus, the aim of the article is to verify the procedure of and to define clear-cut criteria for the material selection. In particular, we introduce indicating de-iconization stage of imitative words as an important criterion for data pre-selection. De-iconization is a gradual loss of an iconic sound-sense link in an imitative word due to the parallel impact of regular sound changes and semantic shifts.Methodology and sources. The research methodology is based on the works ofS. V. Voronin who is the founder of phonosemantics as a linguistic discipline inRussia, as well as on works of his followers (including a co-author of this paper, M. A. Flaksman). The article is also based on the methodology of research on phonotactics. The authors also use psycho-semantic methods such as the method of lexical decision. The main sources of stimuli selection are The Russia Etymological Dictionary by M. Vasmer, The Oxford English Dictionary, the frequency dictionaries by O. N. Liashevskaya and S. A. Sharov. The classification of imitative words according to their de-iconization stages was done by the method of the diachronic evaluation of the imitative lexicon.Results and discussion. As a result of a rigorous selection procedure described in the article the authors arrived on 128 stimuli (an even number (64 + 64) of words and quasiwords). The quasi-words are coined according to phonotactic rules and made according to the same pattern as the corresponding words. The group of real words is constituted of two sub-groups: 32 imitative words and 32 non-imitative words. The words from these two subgroups are homomorphous – they have the same number of syllables, frequency and belong to the same parts of speech. Imitative words include onomatopoeic and soundsymbolic words of different sub-classes and de-iconization stages. The combination of the material selection methods discussed in this paper (especially, the introduction of the distinction of imitative words according to their de-iconization stage) is aiming at facilitating the experiment procedure as well as eliminating the chance factors.Conclusion. The stimuli selection for the psycholinguistic experiment based on the procedure introduced in this paper allows to establish the existing patterns of the systematic function of human brain in the process of visual perception of imitative words on different de-iconization stages.

Automatic Estimation of Affective Impressions from a Single Sound-symbolic Word and Word-based Visualization of Perceptual Space

Automatic Estimation of Affective Impressions from a Single Sound-symbolic Word and Word-based Visualization of Perceptual Space

한국어 음성상징어의 모음조화 재고: 말뭉치 기반 계량적 접근

This paper rethinks the issue of vowel harmony in Korean sound-symbolic words, using more refined data, which is extracted from a large size of corpus, SJ-RIKS (Kang and Kim, 2009). The data of this paper contains 1,023 reduplicative sound-symbolic words of which the base is composed of two or three syllables. It is distinct from that of previous studies in that the sound-symbolic words are all listed in Pyo-jun-gug-eo-dai-sa-jeon (Grand Dictionary of Standard Korean, The National Institute of the Korean Language). By and large, the result of the analysis in this paper supports the proposals of previous studies. However, it is shown that the partial neutrality of [a] is not found in the data of this paper. Thus, Larsen and Heinz (2012)’s proposal of the [a]’s partial neutrality is not supported by the result of this paper. In addition, this paper discusses the additional issues of vowel harmony in Korean sound-symbolic words, such as the transparency issue of medial vowels, the difference in vowel harmony between cross-modal sound-symbolic words and onomatopoeic ones, and the issue of use frequency effect on vowel harmony. (Chung-Ang University · University of British Columbia)

Visualizing Individual Perceptual Differences Using Intuitive Word-Based Input.

Numerous studies have investigated the fundamental dimensions of human tactile perceptual space using a wide range of materials. Participants generally touch materials and quantitatively evaluate variations in tactile sensations for pairs of adjectives pertaining to the material properties, such as smooth—rough and soft—hard. Thus, observers evaluate their perceptual experiences one by one in terms of adjective pairs. We previously proposed an alternative method of qualitative evaluation of tactile sensations. Our system can automatically estimate ratings of fundamental tactile properties from single sound-symbolic words. We were able to construct a word-based perceptual space by collecting words that express tactile sensations and applying them to the system. However, to explore individual differences in perceptual spaces, different databases for converting words into ratings of adjective pairs are required for each individual. To address this, in the present study we created an application that can automatically generate an individualized perceptual space by moving only a few words in the initial word-based perceptual space. In addition, we evaluated the efficacy of the application by comparing the tactile perceptual space before and after use.

Выражение взгляда посредством слов с корневым согласным l в монгольских языках

Introduction. The paper deals with sound-symbolic words of Mongolic languages characterizing a look of the person. For this purpose the work first reveals the circle of sound-symbolic words with meanings ‘shining’, ‘sparkling’, which had emerged due to verbalization of visual perceptions of lighting effects. Such words form an extensive layer of lexicon of many languages of the world and represent a linguistic universal. Goals. The research primarily aims to reveal the connection between acoustic and articulation features of the root consonant l and semantics of the examined words. Semantics of a root first of all depends on acoustic and articulation features of the leader root consonant (dominant), which contains the basic information about sensually perceived phenomena, at broad variability of vowels and the umlaut and auslaut (not dominant) consonants of a root. Materials. Such various lexicographic sources as bilingual, etymological and explanatory dictionaries have been used. Dialect and folklore materials, expedition records have also been surveyed. Results. The article considers lexemes semantically connected to a look because eyes — due to optical properties — can reflect light: they can shine, sparkle etc. In considered material such signs of a look as bright / dim, long / short-term, direct / squint were revealed. On the base of functioning of the Mongolian sound-symbolic lexemes with the meaning ‘eye’ the phonetic correspondence of Mongolian kilar ‘squint’ and Russian glaz ‘eye’ is suggested. The look could express senses and emotions, so the paper considers words with the stem consonant l in which such emotions as rage, hostility, anger, fear, fault, surprise (etc.) are expressed. The work supposes that acoustic and articulation characteristics of the front occlusive-lateral sonant l most precisely suited for verbalization of gloss, glow: steady, continuous rays of light corresponded in consciousness to a smooth current of air on both sides of tongue during the articulation of consonant l. The analysis of the words to have emerged by means of perception of the shining eyes of the person allowed specifying semantics of some words in dictionaries.

Mimetic creativity in Japanese translations of Edgar Allen Poe

:This study of contemporary Japanese translations of selected stories of Edgar Allen Poe argues that contemporary translators have adopted a creative strategy of translation that succeeds in avoiding what Berman has called ‘the destruction of underlying networks of signification’. In a writer of gothic horror such as Poe, chains of expression that establish a mood and visualization are vital to building the reader’s sense of fear and anticipation. The current study shows that the Japanese translators employ sound symbolism and alliteration to create a feeling akin to that in Poe, yet their application of such techniques is distributed differently than in Poe’s original language, and differently from one another. This article examines the use of mimetics in four contemporary Japanese translations of two of Poe’s gothic horror narratives and two translations of one detective narrative. The results show that the Japanese translators used mimetic words in their translations at rates similar to those found in recent studies of selected writers of modern and contemporary fiction. The second finding is that when translating the passages containing the seventy-six sound-symbolic forms in the English source text, the translators of Poe used Japanese mimetic terms 34 per cent of the time. The third finding is that the 34 per cent figure for percentage of sound-symbolic English words translated with mimetic expressions in the target text represented only 12 percent of the total number of mimetics (355 tokens) used in the Japanese translations. The fourth finding reveals an overlap in translator use of a mimetic averaging 42.6 per cent.

Possible Cognitive Mechanisms for Identifying Visually-presented Sound-Symbolic Words

Background. Sound symbolism (SS) refers to the direct association between the sound and the meaning of a word. The results of cross-linguistic research prove that SS is universal for different languages and cultures. Thirty percent of all natural languages consist of SS words. But despite the large number of psychosemantic studies which have been conducted, the cognitive mechanisms of the perception of SS words still remain unclear.

Korean Mothers Attune the Frequency and Acoustic Saliency of Sound Symbolic Words to the Linguistic Maturity of Their Children.

The present study investigates Korean mothers’ use of sound symbolism, in particular expressive lengthening and ideophones, in their speech directed to their children. Specifically, we explore whether the frequency and acoustic saliency of sound symbolic words are modulated by the maturity of children’s linguistic ability. A total of 36 infant-mother dyads, 12 each belonging to the three groups of preverbal (M = 8-month-old), early speech (M = 13-month-old), and multiword (M = 27-month-old) stage, were recorded in a 40-min free-play session. The results were consistent with the findings in previous research that the ratio of sound symbolic words in mothers’ speech decreases with child age and that they are acoustically more salient than conventional words in duration and pitch measures. We additionally found that mothers weaken the prominence for ideophones for older children in mean pitch, suggesting that such prominence of these iconic words might bootstrap infants’ word learning especially when they are younger. Interestingly, however, we found that mothers maintain the acoustic saliency of expressive lengthening consistently across children’s ages in all acoustic measures. There is some indication that children at age 2 are not likely to have mastered the fine details of scalar properties in certain words. Thus, it could be that they still benefit from the enhanced prosody of expressive lengthening in learning the semantic attributes of scalar adjectives, and, accordingly, mothers continue to provide redundant acoustic cues longer for expressive lengthening than ideophones.

The audiovisual structure of onomatopoeias: An intrusion of real-world physics in lexical creation.

Sound-symbolic word classes are found in different cultures and languages worldwide. These words are continuously produced to code complex information about events. Here we explore the capacity of creative language to transport complex multisensory information in a controlled experiment, where our participants improvised onomatopoeias from noisy moving objects in audio, visual and audiovisual formats. We found that consonants communicate movement types (slide, hit or ring) mainly through the manner of articulation in the vocal tract. Vowels communicate shapes in visual stimuli (spiky or rounded) and sound frequencies in auditory stimuli through the configuration of the lips and tongue. A machine learning model was trained to classify movement types and used to validate generalizations of our results across formats. We implemented the classifier with a list of cross-linguistic onomatopoeias simple actions were correctly classified, while different aspects were selected to build onomatopoeias of complex actions. These results show how the different aspects of complex sensory information are coded and how they interact in the creation of novel onomatopoeias.

Bouba/Kiki in Touch: Associations Between Tactile Perceptual Qualities and Japanese Phonemes.

Several studies have shown cross-modal associations between sounds and vision or gustation by asking participants to match pre-defined sound-symbolic words (SSWs), such as “bouba” or “kiki,” with visual or gustatory materials. Here, we conducted an explorative study on cross-modal associations of tactile sensations using spontaneous production of Japanese SSWs and semantic ratings. The Japanese language was selected, because it has a large number of SSWs that can represent a wide range of tactile perceptual spaces with fine resolution, and it shows strong associations between sound and touch. In the experiment, we used 120 everyday materials to cover basic material categories that could be associated with fundamental dimensions of tactile perception. Upon contact with these materials, participants expressed their tactile sensations by using Japanese SSWs, and at the same time, evaluated the tactile sensations by semantic differential scales using adjective pairs. Thanks to the variety of testing materials, we were able to demonstrate the existence of systematic associations between sounds and tactile fundamental perceptual dimensions in a more detailed and comprehensive way than ever done so before. In particular, we found that for vowels, positive tactile ratings were associated with the back vowel (/u/), while negative ratings were associated with the front vowels (/i/ and /e/). The central vowels (/o/ and /a/) were mainly associated with rough, hard, and dry feelings. Consonants were categorized based on vocal features and articulation. The category of the voiced consonants (e.g., /dz/ and /g/) corresponded to feelings of roughness, while that of voiceless consonants (e.g., /ʦ/, and /s/) corresponded to feelings of smoothness. The categories of the bilabial plosive (/p/ and /b/) and voiced alveolar nasal (/n/) consonants were mainly related to soft, sticky and wet feelings, while that of voiceless alveolar affricate (/ʦ/) and voiceless velar plosive (/k/) consonants were related to hard, slippery and dry feelings.

Holistic Processing Affects Surface Texture Perception: Approach from Japanese Sound Symbolic Words

The human visual system is able to perceive not only the macrostructure (form and shape) of a surface, but also its microstructure (texture). Some evidence suggests that microstructural characteristics are processed independently of macrostructural features. However, the human visual system can interpret a variety of information about the physical world, enabling the recognition and semantic categorization of complex visual scenes at a glance. This remarkable perceptual ability relies heavily on holistic processing, which is achieved by estimating the global statistical summary of an image. On the other hand, texture is an important source of information for distinguishing between artificial and naturally occurring surfaces in images. In addition, it is reported that Japanese sound symbolic words are useful to express fine differences in texture and synesthetic characteristics. However, there is no evidence comparing the characteristics of surface texture perception between whole- and part-based images using sound symbolic words. The objective of the present study was to examine whether sound symbolic words for describing the surface texture perception differs between whole-based images related to the holistic processing and part-based images. In Experiment 1, we examined the effect of wholebased images in surface texture perception using sound symbolic words. In Experiment 2, we examined the effect of part-based images in surface texture perception using sound symbolic words. The results revealed that the sensory and symbolic descriptors differed in texture perceptions between whole-based and part-based image processing. These findings suggest that sound symbolic words can describe differences in surface texture between whole-based and part-based images at a fine resolution.

Exploring Tactile Perceptual Dimensions Using Materials Associated with Sensory Vocabulary.

Considering tactile sensation when designing products is important because the decision to purchase often depends on how products feel. Numerous psychophysical studies have attempted to identify important factors that describe tactile perceptions. However, the numbers and types of major tactile dimensions reported in previous studies have varied because of differences in materials used across experiments. To obtain a more complete picture of perceptual space with regard to touch, our study focuses on using vocabulary that expresses tactile sensations as a guiding principle for collecting material samples because these types of words are expected to cover all the basic categories within tactile perceptual space. We collected 120 materials based on a variety of Japanese sound-symbolic words for tactile sensations, and used the materials to examine tactile perceptual dimensions and their associations with affective evaluations. Analysis revealed six major dimensions: “Affective evaluation and Friction,” “Compliance,” “Surface,” “Volume,” “Temperature,” and “Naturalness.” These dimensions include four factors that previous studies have regarded as fundamental, as well as two new factors: “Volume” and “Naturalness.” Additionally, we showed that “Affective evaluation” is more closely related to the “Friction” component (slipperiness and dryness) than to other tactile perceptual features. Our study demonstrates that using vocabulary could be an effective method for selecting material samples to explore tactile perceptual space.

Word Forms of Modern Japanese Sound Symbolic Words Not Listed in Dictionaries

Word Forms of Modern Japanese Sound Symbolic Words Not Listed in Dictionaries

Investigation of the Similarity between Newspaper Corpus and Native Speakers’ Production in Collocation Patterns of Sound-symbolic Words and Verbs

Investigation of the Similarity between Newspaper Corpus and Native Speakers’ Production in Collocation Patterns of Sound-symbolic Words and Verbs

Automatic Estimation of Multidimensional Ratings from a Single Sound-Symbolic Word and Word-Based Visualization of Tactile Perceptual Space.

Several pairs of Japanese adjective words pertaining to material's properties, such as roughness and hardness, have been used in Japanese studies to quantitatively evaluate variations in tactile sensations. This method asks observers to analyze their perceptual experiences one by one. An alternative notion is that human perceptual recognition is performed as a whole rather than by using fragmented factors. Based on this notion, we propose a system that can automatically estimate multidimensional ratings of touch from a single sound-symbolic word that has been spontaneously and intuitively expressed by a user. When a user inputs a sound-symbolic word into the system, the system refers to a database of phonemes and their auditory impressions, and calculates ratings in terms of 26 pairs of fundamental scales of touch. The estimated ratings of sound-symbolic words enable us to visualize a tactile perceptual space. Our study provides an alternative method for estimating the fine quality of tactile sensations.

How Iconicity Helps People Learn New Words: Neural Correlates and Individual Differences in Sound-Symbolic Bootstrapping

Sound symbolism is increasingly understood as involving iconicity, or perceptual analogies and cross-modal correspondences between form and meaning, but the search for its functional and neural correlates is ongoing. Here we study how people learn sound-symbolic words, using behavioural, electrophysiological and individual difference measures. Dutch participants learned Japanese ideophones —lexical sound-symbolic words— with a translation of either the real meaning (in which form and meaning show cross-modal correspondences) or the opposite meaning (in which form and meaning show cross-modal clashes). Participants were significantly better at identifying the words they learned in the real condition, correctly remembering the real word pairing 86.7% of the time, but the opposite word pairing only 71.3% of the time. Analysing event-related potentials (ERPs) during the test round showed that ideophones in the real condition elicited a greater P3 component and late positive complex than ideophones in the opposite condition. In a subsequent forced choice task, participants were asked to guess the real translation from two alternatives. They did this with 73.0% accuracy, well above chance level even for words they had encountered in the opposite condition, showing that people are generally sensitive to the sound-symbolic cues in ideophones. Individual difference measures showed that the ERP effect in the test round of the learning task was greater for participants who were more sensitive to sound symbolism in the forced choice task. The main driver of the difference was a lower amplitude of the P3 component in response to ideophones in the opposite condition, suggesting that people who are more sensitive to sound symbolism may have more difficulty to suppress conflicting cross-modal information. The findings provide new evidence that cross-modal correspondences between sound and meaning facilitate word learning, while cross-modal clashes make word learning harder, especially for people who are more sensitive to sound symbolism.

Sound-symbolism boosts novel word learning.

The existence of sound-symbolism (or a non-arbitrary link between form and meaning) is well-attested. However, sound-symbolism has mostly been investigated with nonwords in forced choice tasks, neither of which are representative of natural language. This study uses ideophones, which are naturally occurring sound-symbolic words that depict sensory information, to investigate how sensitive Dutch speakers are to sound-symbolism in Japanese in a learning task. Participants were taught 2 sets of Japanese ideophones; 1 set with the ideophones' real meanings in Dutch, the other set with their opposite meanings. In Experiment 1, participants learned the ideophones and their real meanings much better than the ideophones with their opposite meanings. Moreover, despite the learning rounds, participants were still able to guess the real meanings of the ideophones in a 2-alternative forced-choice test after they were informed of the manipulation. This shows that natural language sound-symbolism is robust beyond 2-alternative forced-choice paradigms and affects broader language processes such as word learning. In Experiment 2, participants learned regular Japanese adjectives with the same manipulation, and there was no difference between real and opposite conditions. This shows that natural language sound-symbolism is especially strong in ideophones, and that people learn words better when form and meaning match. The highlights of this study are as follows: (a) Dutch speakers learn real meanings of Japanese ideophones better than opposite meanings, (b) Dutch speakers accurately guess meanings of Japanese ideophones, (c) this sensitivity happens despite learning some opposite pairings, (d) no such learning effect exists for regular Japanese adjectives, and (e) this shows the importance of sound-symbolism in scaffolding language learning. (PsycINFO Database Record

Cross-Modal Associations between Sounds and Drink Tastes/Textures: A Study with Spontaneous Production of Sound-Symbolic Words.

Many languages have a word class whose speech sounds are linked to sensory experiences. Several recent studies have demonstrated cross-modal associations (or correspondences) between sounds and gustatory sensations by asking participants to match predefined sound-symbolic words (e.g., "maluma/takete") with the taste/texture of foods. Here, we further explore cross-modal associations using the spontaneous production of words and semantic ratings of sensations. In the experiment, after drinking liquids, participants were asked to express their taste/texture using Japanese sound-symbolic words, and at the same time, to evaluate it in terms of criteria expressed by adjectives. Because the Japanese language has a large vocabulary of sound-symbolic words, and Japanese people frequently use them to describe taste/texture, analyzing a variety of Japanese sound-symbolic words spontaneously produced to express taste/textures might enable us to explore the mechanism of taste/texture categorization. A hierarchical cluster analysis based on the relationship between linguistic sounds and taste/texture evaluations revealed the structure of sensation categories. The results indicate that an emotional evaluation like pleasant/unpleasant is the primary cluster in gustation.

Metaphoric Power of Phonosemantically Charged Lexis

The article considers the ability of phonosemantic lexis (sound imitative and sound symbolic words) to semantic development, that can basically be explained by high metaphoric potential of natural sounds as well as speech sounds. There is no random element in the sound structure of phonosemantically charged lexis, it is based on conventional expectative phonetic organization possessing a predicative meaning, that provides high potential for metaphorization. Semantic evolution of phonosemantic lexis results into formation of new easily decoded nominations, which occupy periphery of target concepts.