Sound symbolism and dimensionality

Sound symbolism is a linguistic phenomenon of meaning/sound association. The bouba/kiki effect is one of its most well-known paradigms, first documented by Wolfgang Köhler (1929) and replicated ad infinitum, notably by Ramachandran and Hubbard (2001) with the eponymous “bouba” and “kiki.” In this paradigm, rounded shapes are consistently paired with words also perceived to be round (like “bouba”) and spiked shapes are paired with those perceived to be sharper (like “kiki”). There have been various explanations for this; Ramachandran and Hubbard (2001) suggested influence of the mouth’s roundness when producing the word “bouba” and tautness when producing “kiki.” Other studies have considered the role of different consonants, vowel quality, and even vowel quantity (Bross 2018). Additionally, previous studies (Ramachandran and Hubbard (2001); Maurer (2006)) have only used abstract, two-dimensional round or spiky shapes as stimuli.

Expanding on the findings of D’Onofrio (2014), I consider vowel frontness and backness as predictors and use three-dimensional objects as stimuli. In order to investigate the extent of the bouba/kiki paradigm on the real world, I created an experiment that introduces interactive three-dimensionality through 3D rendered .gif stimuli. The movement of the gifs serves to simulate the tactile aspect of how we interact with objects in the world.

My experiment is written in JavaScript using the JsPsych framework for web-based experiments. Notably it only serves as the basis for a future study; at present it has not been tested on a pool of participants and no data has been collected.

Primarily, the experiment investigates whether using interactive 3D rendered stimuli influences the vowel quality of participants’ object descriptions. The combination of sound symbolism and an iterated learning framework also allows for an examination of their interaction, that is, if one takes precedence over another; will the bouba/kiki paradigm (or broader facets of sound symbolism) override learning?

My predictions are as follows:

1. form-meaning association is significantly influenced by three-dimensionality

1a. and if it is, this will be shown by convergence to the predicted vowel quality (either backness or frontness) when paired with the opposite one

2. the perceived ‘sharpness’ or ‘roundness’ of the stimuli is boosted by the three-dimensionality of these properties

2a. and if it is, the vowel association effects will be boosted

This work will discuss the experiment design and why such an experiment fills a gap in the current literature, bringing the bouba/kiki paradigm further into the real world to more adequately understand the cognitive processes behind sound symbolism. A study such as this may help unravel our cognitive perception and conceptualization of dimensionality, as well as allowing a deeper understanding of how sound-symbolism and dimensionality function – individually, together, and under the influence of iterated learning. I maintain that conceptions of dimensionality are the next step in understanding the cognition behind sound symbolic associations.