The Power of Words in the Brain: Systematic Sound-Meaning Associations in Novel and Existing Words

The Power of Words in the Brain: Systematic Sound-Meaning Associations in Novel and Existing Words Marie Postma-Nilsenova (m.nilsenova@tilburguniversity.edu) Department of Communication and Information Sciences, Tilburg University, P.O. Box 9013, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands Constantijn Kaland (c.c.l.kaland@tilburguniversity.edu) Department of Communication and Information Sciences, Tilburg University, P.O. Box 9013, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands Leonoor Oversteegen (e.oversteegen@tilburguniversity.edu) Department of Communication and Information Sciences, Tilburg University, P.O. Box 9013, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands Abstract In a series of experiments conducted with Dutch native speakers, we explored systematic size/power sound-symbolic associations in novel and existing words. In Experiment 1 (N = 64), participants associated vowel-intrinsic fundamental frequency with size/power, disregarding the modality of stimuli presentation (spoken, written), but depending on the lexical status of the stimulus (more strongly for novel then for existing words). In Experiment 2 (N = 56), we explored the idea that the order of vowels in a word affects sound- symbolic associations, as pitch contours emerge from a sequence of vowel-intrinsic fundamental frequencies. Participants perceived stimuli with 'rising' combinations of front-back vowels as less powerful than stimuli with ‘falling’ combinations. This finding indicates that even in non-tonal languages, sound symbolism is not bound to a single segment (phoneme). We compared the effect to the perception of tones in a tonal language, which we explored in Experiment 3 with Mandarin native speakers (N = 96) judging the perception of power in monosyllabic novel brand names with four different tones (rising, falling, level and fall-rise). In Experiment 4 (N = 146), we examined the effect of vowel-intrinsic intensity, which has previously remained un-noted. The results showed that like fundamental frequency, also intrinsic intensity influences size/power-symbolic associations. Keywords: Sound Symbolism; Cross-modal Correspondence; Form-Meaning Arbitrariness; Frequency Code; Intrinsic Intensity; Intrinsic Fundamental Frequency. Introduction A series of relatively recent experiments has shaken one of the most fundamental postulates about human language, namely the arbitrariness assumption regarding the relation between the sound structure of a word and its meaning. Originating with de Saussure, it has long been presumed that the number of pictorial, imitative, or onomatopoetic words in any language is very small (Hockett, 1958; de Saussure, 1916/1959). However, in violation of de Saussure’s arbitrariness assumption, many studies confirm that both existing words and non-words in different languages evoke connotations based on their sound structure (Klink, 2000, 2001, 2003; Yorkston & Menon, 2004; Lowrey & Shrum, 2007; Shrum et al., 2012; Kovic et al., 2010; Coulter & Coulter, 2010; Aveyard, 2012; Parise & Spence, 2012; Spence, 2011; Baxter & Lowrey, 2011). The sound-meaning link appears to facilitate both L1 and L2 learning (Nygaard et al., 2009; Imai et al., 2008) by helping to solve the “cross-modal correspondence problem” (which stimuli to link to link together across the senses; Spence, 2011; Bremner et al., 2012) and has been claimed to hold universally (Ultan, 1978; Ramachandran & Hubbard, 2005). On the one hand, languages encode crossmodal relationships by mapping phonemes to specific shapes. For example, by virtue of the so-called “Bouba-Kiki” effect, round vowels are typically linked to rounded objects, whereas high-pitched un-round vowels bring to mind angularity (Kohler, 1929; Ramachandran & Hubbard, 2001; Westbury, 2005; Bremner et al., 2012). The effect seems to hold for children as young as 2-2.5 years and concerns both objects and visual actions (Maurer, Pathman, & Mondloch, 2006; Imai et al., 2008). On the other hand, sound-symbolic phenomena might give rise to a visual size/power association (Sapir, 1929). In various languages, words containing vowels with high intrinsic fundamental frequency, the acoustic correlate of pitch, (e.g., front vowels such as /ɪ, i, ɛ/; Lehiste & Peterson, 1961; Whalen & Levitt, 1995) are perceived as referring to lighter, thinner, smaller, less powerful and more feminine entities/individuals and, possibly, prickly, sour taste (Crisinel & Spence, 2009) as opposed to words containing vowels with low intrinsic fundamental frequency (e.g., back vowels such as /ʊ, o, ɔ/). A similar effect can be achieved by using different types of consonants that can influence fundamental frequency either directly, or by raising the frequency of the accompanying vowel (cmp. voiceless vs. voiced consonants, fricatives vs. plosives). The effect has primarily been observed for non- words (e.g., invented brand names; Klink, 2000, 2001, 2003; Yorkston & Menon, 2004; Lowrey & Shrum, 2007; Shrum et al., 2012) but appears to hold for existing words as well, at least in limited domains: In a study in the area of consumer psychology, Coulter & Coulter (2010) reported that vowel pitch in numerals can influence the perception of price discounts in English and Chinese.