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Published on: September 1, 2016
An Investigation of Sound-Symbolism in the Context of Tactile Feeling
Lap-Yan Lo1, H M Luk1, Nigel Thompson1
1a Hong Kong Shue Yan University.
Abstract:
Sound symbolism suggests a non-arbitrary relationship between speech sounds and the concepts to which those sounds refer (Hinton, Nichols, & Ohala, 2006 ). Supporting evidence comes primarily from studies investigating how speech sounds relate to semantically compatible visual concepts. The present study therefore attempted to examine sound symbolism in the context of tactile perception. Contrary to the propositions of sound symbolism, participants in Experiment 1 did not consistently assign names with plosive consonant to objects with curved frames. Experiment 2, however, found that names with fricative consonants were more likely to be applied to materials with rough surfaces. The results suggested the existence of a direct relationship between speech sounds and their referent concepts that could be crucial in revealing the phenomenon of sound symbolism. A future study was also proposed to study the contributions of mouth shape and airflow to associations between speech sounds and tactile feelings. (161 words).
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