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Article

Exploring the Positional Effects in Sound Symbolism: The Case of Hardness Judgments by English and Japanese Speakers

by
Kazuko Shinohara
* and
Ryoko Uno
Institute of Engineering, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Languages 2022, 7(3), 179; https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7030179
Submission received: 10 May 2022 / Revised: 4 July 2022 / Accepted: 5 July 2022 / Published: 11 July 2022
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Abstract

Sound symbolism refers to the systematic and iconic relationships between sounds and meanings. While the research on this topic is growing rapidly, one issue that is understudied in the literature is whether segments in psycholinguistically salient positions (e.g., word-initial position) exhibit stronger sound–symbolic effects. We report two experiments that, together, show Japanese speakers are more sensitive to the sound–symbolic values of segments in initial syllables, whereas English speakers, rather surprisingly, are more sensitive to the sound–symbolic values of segments in final syllables. This cross-linguistic difference is intriguing, and we believe it opens up opportunities for future experimentation.
Keywords: sound symbolism; hardness; positional effects; English; Japanese sound symbolism; hardness; positional effects; English; Japanese

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MDPI and ACS Style

Shinohara, K.; Uno, R. Exploring the Positional Effects in Sound Symbolism: The Case of Hardness Judgments by English and Japanese Speakers. Languages 2022, 7, 179. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7030179

AMA Style

Shinohara K, Uno R. Exploring the Positional Effects in Sound Symbolism: The Case of Hardness Judgments by English and Japanese Speakers. Languages. 2022; 7(3):179. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7030179

Chicago/Turabian Style

Shinohara, Kazuko, and Ryoko Uno. 2022. "Exploring the Positional Effects in Sound Symbolism: The Case of Hardness Judgments by English and Japanese Speakers" Languages 7, no. 3: 179. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7030179

APA Style

Shinohara, K., & Uno, R. (2022). Exploring the Positional Effects in Sound Symbolism: The Case of Hardness Judgments by English and Japanese Speakers. Languages, 7(3), 179. https://doi.org/10.3390/languages7030179

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