Size-Sound Iconicity in English-Like Pseudowords Influences Referent Labeling and Prosody

Speech sounds can communicate perceptual information through iconicity, or shared resemblance between sound and meaning. Prosody, which encompasses vocal characteristics such as pitch and intensity, can similarly be recruited to communicate meaning by evoking physical features of a referent. This study used English-like pseudowords to investigate whether iconicity between word form and object properties would affect pronunciation, with the prediction that congruent mappings between label and referent would elicit similarly iconic prosodic modulation. Experiment 1 used size-sound iconicity to establish perceptual mappings. Participants were presented with three animal figures of varying sizes, small, medium, and big, and asked to assign a label to one of them. The labels were pseudowords designed to be small-sounding, ambiguous with respect to size, or big-sounding. We found that small-sounding pseudowords were more likely to be matched to small referents, and big-sounding pseudowords to big referents. Participants exhibited no preference when naming medium-sized animals. Experiment 2 assessed how iconic mappings between labels and referents influenced vocal production. Participants were shown three animals of differing sizes along with a label that was preassigned to a particular referent. Participants were then asked to pronounce aloud the target pseudoword, and responses were recorded. Although the relationship between label and referent did not significantly predict the acoustic form of vocal productions, participants instead produced prosody that reflected the size evoked by the pseudowords themselves, suggesting that not only are language users sensitive to sound to size iconicity in spoken language, but that sensitivity modulates speech production.