ERIC Number: EJ1456544
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1547-5441
EISSN: EISSN-1547-3341
Language-Specific Sound-Shape Matching at 12-Months of Age
Language Learning and Development, v21 n1 p15-26 2025
By 12 months of age, infants exhibit behavioral sensitivity to sound symbolism (e.g. sound-shape correspondences) when they hear universally sound symbolic pseudowords (e.g. "bouba," "kiki"). Here, we investigated whether infant's sensitivity to sound-shape correspondences is affected when they hear language-specific sound symbolic words. Using the spontaneous preference-looking paradigm, we tested 12-month-old monolingual Spanish (n = 13) and Basque (n = 16) infants matching Spanish-like pseudowords (i.e. "bubano," "raceto") with rounded and spiky shapes. These pseudowords were created by Spanish-Basque bilingual adults, who then rated pseudowords as more Spanish or Basque-like, and more rounded or spikey-like. Infants were presented with eight congruent (e.g. "bubano" presented with a rounded shape) and incongruent (e.g. "bubano" presented with a spiky shape) trials. Both Spanish and Basque-learning infants displayed similar increased sensitivity to incongruent than to congruent trials. We found weak evidence that language background modulates sound-shape correspondence. These results suggest that at 12 months of age, specific language experience (e.g. Spanish vs. Basque) most likely does not alter sound-shape bias when hearing Spanish-like sound combinations. This study was the first to utilize language-specific instead of language nonspecific stimuli. Nonetheless, similar to previous investigations, the sound-shape bias effect was exhibited at 12 months of age in both language groups.
Descriptors: Acoustics, Infants, Spanish, Languages, Bilingualism, Adults, Phonology, Language Acquisition, Infant Behavior, Monolingualism, Task Analysis, Contrastive Linguistics, Developmental Stages, Pictorial Stimuli, Foreign Countries, Geometric Concepts
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Spain
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Data File: URL: https://osf.io/ntk4q/?view_only=e00af81ad4c5481e90b799adf5e61e31