Sound Symbolism in English

Weighing the Evidence

Bibliographic Data

ID12059036
AuthorsBarry J Blake (La Trobe University, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume37
Issue3
Pages286-313
Publication date2017-04-09
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0726-8602 • E-ISSN: 1469-2996
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07268602.2017.1298394
OpenAlexW2606406880
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited18

It is generally recognized that the form of some words is not entirely arbitrary. Some words are clearly partly onomatopoeic, as with buzz, but claims are often made that there are correlations between form and meaning that do not always involve sound, initial gl- allegedly being associated with emitting light as in glitter, glimmer and glow, and the rhyme -ump being associated with a solid mass as in words like lump, stump and rump. This is sound symbolism or phonaesthesia. An exploration of the Oxford English Dictionary reveals that while some proposed examples have little or no basis, some sets of rhymes such as -ash and -ump and the group of words with the onset fl- can be shown to have grown considerably during the Modern Period with some echoic formations, some blends and some shifts of meaning. The oft-claimed association of high-front vowels with smallness and low vowels with largeness also receives some support. Compounds with vowel alternation or onset alternation also exhibit sound symbolism

Acoustics · Alternation (linguistics · Art · Echoic memory · Linguistics · Literature · Meaning (existential · Onomatopoeia · Physics · Poetry · Rhyme · Sound (geography · Sound change · Sound symbolism · Vowel · History · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Lexicography and Language Studies · Philosophy · Psychology · Swearing, Euphemism, Multilingualism