The influence of vocal iconicity on semantic retrieval

Iconicity, i.e. form-meaning resemblance that makes /o/ sound round but /k/ sound sharp, is one of the factors that shape human language and is of import for language development and acquisition. This project will investigate the occurrence of iconicity from two angles.

First, it will investigate iconic patterns in so-called noun categorization devices, e.g. masculine (gat-o ‘cat’) and feminine (lun-a ‘moon’) endings in Spanish.

Noun categorization data from 200 of the world’s language families will be collected and the speech sounds used will be analyzed to find cross-linguistic overrepresentations.

Then, the placement of iconic sounds within words in natural languages will be investigated using previous studies on cross-linguistic iconicity.

Finally, nonwords in which iconic sounds are systematically placed in different positions and in stressed/unstressed syllables will be created and rated by participants.

The results from these novel studies will expand iconicity research to previously uncharted avenues, which will give us a deeper understanding of how language changes and develops. In addition, the noun categorization dataset generated will be a crucial resource for future research on morphology.

The project will be conducted by myself but supported by the research environments provided by Charles University (the first 16 months) and Lund University (the last 8 months) to ensure expertise from the wide range of subfields required.