The pluripotentiality of bilabial consonants

The images of softness and cuteness in Japanese and English

Bibliographic Data

ID21240060
AuthorsGakuji Kumagai (0000-0001-6104-4072, Meikai University, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume6
Issue1
Pages693-707
Publication date2020-12-31
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOpen Linguistics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2300-9969 • E-ISSN: 2300-9969
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/opli-2020-0040
OpenAlexW3125648239
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited65

The current study experimentally examined whether labial consonants were sound-symbolically associated with the images of softness and cuteness in Japanese and English. The results showed that all the bilabial consonants [p, b, m, ɸ, w] used in Japanese convey such images. In English, the consonants evoking the image of softness were bilabials but not labiodentals, and those linked to the image of cuteness were unaspirated, low-frequency bilabials. These results demonstrated the pluripotentiality of sound symbolism, meaning that a certain set of linguistic sounds evokes different meanings and images both within a single language and across languages (e.g. Winter et al. 2019; Kawahara and Kumagai to appear). Moreover, under the backcloth that the description of the glide /w/ concerning the place of articulation in Japanese and English is not uncontroversial, the current paper indicates – based on the current sound-symbolic experimental results – that the glide /w/ is phonologically labial in each language

Acoustics · Consonant · Linguistics · Physics · Place of articulation · Vowel · Categorization, perception, and language · Communication · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Multisensory perception and integration · Philosophy · Psychology

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