| Evidence of sound symbolism in simple vocalizations. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 21901453 Owner: NLM Status: Publisher |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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The question of the arbitrariness of language is among the oldest in cognitive sciences, and it relates to the nature of the associations between vocal sounds and their meaning. Growing evidence seems to support sound symbolism, claiming for a naturally constrained mapping of meaning into sounds. Most of such evidence, however, comes from studies based on the interpretation of pseudowords, and to date, there is little empirical evidence that sound symbolism can affect phonatory behavior. In the present study, we asked participants to utter the letter /a/ in response to visual stimuli varying in shape, luminance, and size, and we observed consistent sound symbolic effects on vocalizations. Utterances' loudness was modulated by stimulus shape and luminance. Moreover, stimulus shape consistently modulated the frequency of the third formant (F3). This finding reveals an automatic mapping of specific visual attributes into phonological features of vocalizations. Furthermore, it suggests that sound-meaning associations are reciprocal, affecting active (production) as well as passive (comprehension) linguistic behavior. |
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Authors:
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Cesare V Parise; Francesco Pavani |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: JOURNAL ARTICLE Date: 2011-9-8 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Experimental brain research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Experimentation cerebrale Volume: - ISSN: 1432-1106 ISO Abbreviation: - Publication Date: 2011 Sep |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2011-9-8 Completed Date: - Revised Date: - |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 0043312 Medline TA: Exp Brain Res Country: - |
Other Details:
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Languages: ENG Pagination: - Citation Subset: - |
Affiliation:
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Department of Cognitive Sciences and Education, University of Trento, Trento, Italy, cesare.parise@tuebingen.mpg.de. |
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From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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