I want it small or, rather, give me a bunch

The role of evaluative morphology on the assessment of the emotional properties of words

Dados Bibliográficos

ID21505016
AutoresJosé A Hinojosa (0000-0002-7482-9503, Instituto Pluridisciplinar, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain, autor correspondente), Juan Haro (0000-0002-3456-4731, Universitat Rovira i Virgili), Rocío Calvillo-Torres (Instituto Pluridisciplinar, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain), Lucía González-Arias (Instituto Pluridisciplinar, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain), Claudia Poch (0000-0002-9357-4948, Facultad de Lenguas y Educación, Universidad de Nebrija, Madrid, Spain), Pilar Ferré (0000-0002-3192-0040, Universitat Rovira i Virgili)
Ano2022
Volume36
Fascículo6
Páginas1203-1210
Data de publicação2022-08-18
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoCognition & Emotion (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0269-9931 • E-ISSN: 1464-0600
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02699931.2022.2093840
PMID35770773
OpenAlexW4283756072
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas19

Evaluative markers of diminution and augmentation typically express quantity or intensity. Prior evidence suggests that they also convey emotions, although it remains unexplored as to whether this function is mediated by their role in expressing quantification/intensification. Here we investigated the effects of evaluative suffixes on the assessment of word affective properties by asking participants (N = 300) to score valence and arousal features for augmentatives, diminutives and base words with negative, positive or neutral valence. Diminutives and, to a lesser extent, augmentatives were assessed more positively than base forms in negative words and more negatively than bases in positive words. The capacity of diminution to express attenuated emotions is in line with its function in conveying quantity. By contrast, valence effects for augmentatives suggests a role in expressing pejoration and amelioration that is not mediated by quantification. With regard to arousal, negative, neutral and positive augmentatives showed higher scores than base words, which, in addition, were also rated higher than diminutives. These incremental effects suggest that suffixes which convey larger quantity are also associated with increased arousal. Thus, with the exception of valence effects in augmentatives, it seems that evaluative suffixes encode both valence and arousal through quantification

Arousal · Cognition · Cognitive psychology · Developmental psychology · Emotional valence · Low arousal theory · Chemistry · Emotions and Moral Behavior · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Neuroscience · Psychology · Social Psychology