ERIC Number: EJ1204187
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Feb
Pages: 7
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0278-7393
EISSN: N/A
Cross-Sensory Correspondences in Language: Vowel Sounds Can Symbolize the Felt Heaviness of Objects
Walker, Peter; Parameswaran, Caroline Regina
Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, v45 n2 p246-252 Feb 2019
In sound symbolism, a word's sound induces expectations about the nature of a salient aspect of the word's referent. P. Walker (2016a) proposed that cross-sensory correspondences can be the source of these expectations, and the present study assessed three implications flowing from this proposal. First, sound symbolism will embrace a wide range of referent features, including heaviness. Second, any feature of a word's sound able to symbolize one aspect of the word's referent will also be able to symbolize corresponding aspects of the referent (e.g., a sound feature symbolizing visual pointiness will also symbolize lightness in weight). Third, sound symbolism will be independent of the sensory modality through which a word's referent is encoded (e.g., whether heaviness is felt or seen). Adults judged which of two contrasting novel words was most appropriate as a name for the heavier or lighter of two otherwise identical hidden novel objects they were holding in their hands. The alternative words contrasted in their vowels and/or consonants, one or both of which were known to symbolize visual pointiness. Although the plosive or continuant nature of the consonants did not influence the judged appropriateness of a word to symbolize the heaviness of its referent, back/open vowels, compared to front/close vowels, were judged to symbolize felt heaviness. The symbolic potential of back/open vowels to represent felt heaviness, predicted on the basis of their symbolism of visual roundedness, supports the proposal that cross-sensory correspondences contribute to sound symbolism.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Acoustics, Vowels, Phonemes, Sensory Integration, Visualization, Novelty (Stimulus Dimension), Object Manipulation, Scientific Concepts, Adults, College Students, Expectation, Distinctive Features (Language), Evaluative Thinking, Naming
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A