Jagged little trill: study suggests sounds have shape and texture
The Guardian|November 21, 2024
A rolled R is a sound that many may struggle to produce, but research suggests it evokes the same curious response in people the world over: an association with a jagged line. While onomatopoeia describes words that sound like the noise they describe - such as "bang" - sound symbolism is a broader concept, in which sounds map on to a wider range of meanings, such as shape, texture or size.
Nicola Davis

One of the best known examples is the boubalkiki effect, whereby people typically match the nonsense word "bouba" to a blobby shape and "kiki" to a spiky one.

Now researchers say they have found an association that appears even more widespread, revealing a rolled - or trilled - R sound is consistently matched with a jagged line.

"It's the strongest case of sound symbolism [to date]. So your speech sounds, which are supposed to be arbitrary, have meaning," said Dr Marcus Perlman from the University of Birmingham, a co-author of the study.

この記事は The Guardian の November 21, 2024 版に掲載されています。

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