Sound symbolism in monolingual and bilingual speakers. How does bilingualism influence sound symbolism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21697609 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Anita D’Anselmo (0000-0003-3940-2616, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara), Giulia Prete (0000-0001-9969-6404, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara, corresponding author), Tania Zulli (“G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara), Michele D’Attilio (0000-0003-1614-4204, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara), Vittoria Perrotti (0000-0001-7652-1660, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara), Raffaella Franciotti (0000-0002-8819-1061, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara), Luca Tommasi (0000-0003-0664-714X, “G. d’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Pages | 1-10 |
| Publication date | 2025-11-18 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Bilingualism Language and Cognition (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1366-7289 • E-ISSN: 1469-1841 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1366728925100679 |
| OpenAlex | W4416340767 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 38 |
Sound symbolism refers to a non-arbitrary relationship between speech and non-speech sounds and their meaning. We investigated whether bilingual individuals, due to their exposure to diverse linguistic systems, exhibit an advantage in this domain compared to monolinguals, or whether this ability relies on universal mechanisms independent of linguistic background. Ninety-four bilingual (spoken languages: Italian and at least another language; age ranging from 22 to 66 years, M = 35.31, SE = 1.26) and 101 monolingual participants (all Italian speakers; age ranging from 22 to 64 years, M = 36.05, SE = 1.16) were presented with 120 words from four unknown languages and asked to infer their meaning from three alternatives. Results confirmed the presence of sound symbolism, as overall performance was significantly higher than chance, but no significant differences emerged between monolinguals and bilinguals, suggesting that sound symbolism is an automatic cognitive mechanism, independent of prior linguistic experience
Multilingualism · Neuroscience of multilingualism · Sound change · Sound symbolism · Speech sound · Categorization, perception, and language · Multisensory perception and integration · Phonetics and Phonology Research
Defining Multilingualism
Bilingualism in Development
The sound symbolism bootstrapping hypothesis for language acquisition and language evolution
Arbitrariness, Iconicity, and Systematicity in Language
Sound symbolism facilitates early verb learning
A study in phonetic symbolism.
How arbitrary is language?
How does the bilingual experience sculpt the brain?
Neuroplasticity as a function of second language learning
Describing bilinguals
Language as a multimodal phenomenon
G*Power 3
The typology of sound symbolism
Measuring bilingual language dominance
The development of spontaneous sound-shape matching in monolingual and bilingual infants during the first year
Iconicity as a General Property of Language
Factors determining the guessing of meanings of foreign words
Phonetic symbolism in natural languages
The First Congress of Ethnozoological Nomenclature
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |