DOCSLIB.ORG

The Natural Motivation of Sound Symbolism

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Natural Motivation of Sound Symbolism The Natural Motivation of Sound Symbolism Nahyun Kwon MA (Advanced) in Linguistics A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Queensland in 2015 School of Languages and Cultures ii Abstract This dissertation examines systematic sound-meaning correspondences in sound-symbolic words from a cross-linguistic perspective, investigating whether and to what degree they are naturally motivated. Its aims are to assess empirical evidence for the Explanatory Sound-symbolism Hypothesis (ESH): that sound symbolism is primarily governed by natural motivation, in particular, by a connection between human perceptual and language systems. The languages examined are Korean and English, which are genealogically unrelated. Chapter One surveys the literature and discusses the iconicity of meaning-bearing elements of Korean ideophones (MEI’s) and English phonaesthemes. On a conceptual level, one can argue that Korean MEI’s exhibit translucent iconicity, in which natural motivation prevails over arbitrariness, while English phonaesthemes exhibit opaque iconicity (or secondary iconicity). This suggests that the former would be consistent with the ESH and that the latter, in which the naturalness is blocked by arbitrary conventionalisation, would support the alternative, the Conventional Sound-symbolism Hypothesis. Chapter Two reviews previous experimental studies of the iconicity of language, covering not only the traditional explicit paradigms this thesis adopts, but also the recent advancements of implicit methods in sound-symbolic literature. Chapter Three examines methods for calibrating and comparing Korean MEI’s and English phonaesthemes to other morphological entities, by applying the methods of Canonical Typology. On a theoretical level, it is proposed that English phonaesthemes sit closer to classic arbitrary morphemes than do MEI’s within morphological theory. This coincides with the conceptual characterisation of their iconicity levels in Chapter One, i.e., that phonaesthemes, which have opaque iconicity, exhibit a lower level of natural iconicity than MEI’s. Chapters Four through Six examine cross-linguistic interpretations of Korean ideophones and English phonaesthemic words from an empirical perspective. These include two perception experiments, where native speakers of both Korean and English speakers guess the meanings of nonsense words, created based on existing (a) Korean and (b) English sound-symbolic words. To empirically investigate the natural iconicity in Korean MEI’s, two different language groups (i.e., Korean and English) listened to nonsense Korean ideophonic pairs and chose their meanings in binary-choice meaning matching tasks. Taking into account the Korean sound discrimination levels of the English-speaking participants, Chapter Four reveals that vocalic MEI’s are based on convention, since an above-chance level of correct meaning-matching rates was not achieved across the language groups. In contrast, Chapter Five argues that consonantal MEI’s are based on natural motivation, supporting the ESH. To empirically investigate natural iconicity in phonaesthemes, the Korean- and English-speaking participants guessed meanings of iii phonaesthemes in sets of aurally presented nonsense core English phonaesthemic words in free- choice and multiple-choice tasks. The results differed depending on testing methods. In the free- choice task, interpretations of phonaesthemes did not converge across the language groups. However, in the multiple-choice task, some phonaesthemes received above-chance level of correct- guessing rates. From this, it is speculated that the natural iconicity of phonaesthemes is recognised only when available contexts have been sufficiently constrained. The findings show that the translucent iconicity of MEI’s gains empirical support only in the case of consonantal MEI’s. Contrary to predictions made on a conceptual basis in Chapter One, the vocalic MEI’s display opaque iconicity. With respect to phonaesthemes, some exhibit translucent iconicity when available contexts have been constrained, as in the multiple-choice task. Altogether, the dissertation reveals that sound-symbolic phenomena have varying degrees of motivatedness as linguistic signs, and that some instances of sound symbolism are based on arbitrary convention, contrary to the central claim of the ESH. To some extent, this counters the proposition that sound- symbolic phenomena represent a challenge to the near-axiomatic expectation in modern linguistics, that pairings of sounds with simple meanings are arbitrary, and it encourages us to recognise the role of iconicity in language with a caveat. iv Declaration by author This thesis is composed of my original work, and contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference has been made in the text. I have clearly stated the contribution by others to jointly-authored works that I have included in my thesis. I have clearly stated the contribution of others to my thesis as a whole, including statistical assistance, survey design, data analysis, significant technical procedures, professional editorial advice, and any other original research work used or reported in my thesis. The content of my thesis is the result of work I have carried out since the commencement of my research higher degree candidature and does not include a substantial part of work that has been submitted to qualify for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution. I have clearly stated which parts of my thesis, if any, have been submitted to qualify for another award. I acknowledge that an electronic copy of my thesis must be lodged with the University Library and, subject to the policy and procedures of The University of Queensland, the thesis be made available for research and study in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968 unless a period of embargo has been approved by the Dean of the Graduate School. I acknowledge that copyright of all material contained in my thesis resides with the copyright holder(s) of that material. Where appropriate I have obtained copyright permission from the copyright holder to reproduce material in this thesis. v Publications during candidature Journal articles • Kwon, N., & Round, E. R. (2015). Phonaesthemes in morphological theory. Morphology, 25(1), 1-27. Conference proceedings • Kwon, N. (2014). Iconicity in Korean consonantal symbolism. In J Hay and E Parnell (Eds.) Proceedings of the 15th Australasian International Conference on Speech Science and Technology, Christchurch, New Zealand, December 2-5 2014. • Kwon, N. (2014). Acoustic observation for English speakers’ perception of a three-way laryngeal contrast of Korean stops. In L Gawne and J Vaughan (Eds.) Selected papers from the 44th conference of the Australian Linguistic Society, 2013, Melbourne: University of Melbourne. pp. 59-76. Publications included in this thesis Publication citation – incorporated within Chapter 3. Contributor Statement of contribution to the published paper (Chapter 3 contains additional materials as well) Nahyun Kwon (Candidate) Designed experiments (80%) Wrote the paper (45%) Erich Round Designed experiments (20%) Wrote and edited paper (55%) vi Contributions by others to the thesis None Statement of parts of the thesis submitted to qualify for the award of another degree None vii Acknowledgements The completion of this PhD dissertation would not have been possible without academic, financial, and emotional support from the people listed in the following: First of all, I express my deepest gratitude to the supervisory team members, Dr Erich Round, Dr Michael Harrington, and Assoc. Prof. Kimi Akita. I do not know how to say thank you enough to Erich, my principal supervisor. He was always supportive from the time when I was preparing for admission to the PhD program to the time when I was writing the very last word of this thesis. For 3.5 years, I had countless meetings with him and they were always academically stimulating. His expertise in morphology and phonology was absolutely crucial in enabling me to approach my research question in depth and from various angles. Michael provided helpful suggestions on developing experimental methods and applying appropriate statistical analyses in Chapters 4 to 6. I also appreciate Dr Kari Sullivan’s help in giving me critical comments by filling in the role of a reader. Thank you, Michael and Kari! And, Kimi. I met Kimi when I was visiting the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen in 2014, and he left an extremely strong impression on me. His curiosity and passion about the topic of sound symbolism seemed to have no boundary and I still remember how he kept asking questions about Korean ideophones until I was almost faint from finding answers for him. After that, I really wanted to have him as my third supervisor and he kindly accepted my offer. Kimi, I appreciate your thorough comments, which were essential to improving the quality of the entire thesis, and your ideas for future research, which made me broaden my academic horizons. I know that you would not want to be called Dr Akita. Nevertheless, I will stubbornly say, 秋田先生、ありがとうござい ます。 I benefited from discussions with professors at other universities too. I would like to thank Dr Mark Dingemanse for hosting me at MPI, which was a dream place in terms of my professional aspiration. His sharp and straightforward, yet still kind, comments on the definitions of sound-symbolic
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Anglophonic Influence in the Use of Sound Symbolism in Italian Disney Comics: a Corpus-Based Analysis
    Open Linguistics 2017; 3: 591–612 Research Article Pier Simone Pischedda* Anglophonic Influence in the Use of Sound Symbolism in Italian Disney Comics: A Corpus-based Analysis https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2017-0030 Received August 11, 2017; accepted November 20, 2017 Abstract: This article will explore the linguistic implications of employing and creating sound symbolism (ideophones, onomatopoeia and interjections) in Italian Disney comics. It will endeavour to investigate the way sound symbolic forms in both imported Disney US comics and original Italian stories have profoundly influenced the development of Italian sound symbolism in the last century. The diachronic analysis is carried out thanks to the creation of a corpus of ideophones and interjections from 210 Disney stories published between 1932 and 2013. The corpus will allow the author to investigate how these forms have changed diachronically throughout the eighty years under investigation with the final aim of highlighting changes and patterns in both original and translated Italian stories. The unique status of ideophones, confirmed by language, sociological and neurological studies, has led to interesting experimentations but also to complicated dynamics. Certain linguistic settings seem to foster a better affinity towards the device— particularly if compared to Romance languages, such as Italian and Spanish, that often have to rely on Anglophone renditions. Anglicisation has indeed overshadowed previous original attempts. Nevertheless, recent creations, particularly from
    [Show full text]
  • Final Dissdec1-09
    UC Berkeley Dissertations, Department of Linguistics Title The Phonology and Morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/1mc954tq Author McFarland, Teresa Publication Date 2009 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac by Teresa Ann McFarland A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Linguistics in the Graduate Division of the UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Committee in charge: Professor Sharon Inkelas (Chair) Professor Andrew Garrett Professor Leanne Hinton Professor Johanna Nichols Fall 2009 The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac © 2009 by Teresa Ann McFarland Abstract The phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac by Teresa Ann McFarland Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics University of California, Berkeley Professor Sharon Inkelas, Chair This dissertation constitutes a descriptive grammar of the phonology and morphology of Filomeno Mata Totonac that highlights typologically unusual phenomena of theoretical interest. Filomeno Mata (FM) Totonac is a member of the Totonac-Tepehua family (eastern Mexico), spoken in and around the municipality whose name it borrows in the state of Veracruz. It is a polysynthetic, highly agglutinating, head-marking variety with VSO word order and complex verbal morphology that has not previously been described by linguists. This grammar is based on fieldwork conducted by the author
    [Show full text]
  • Sources of Variation in Mongolian Sign Language
    33 Sources of Variation in Mongolian Sign Language Leah C. Geer University of Texas at Austin 1. Introduction1 During a nine month period in which data on Mongolian Sign Language (MSL) were collected in a Field Methods course, there were numerous instances of disagreement between language consultants on the correct sign for a given concept. The present paper seeks to describe these disagreements in terms of the potential sources of language variation among language consultants. The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: In section 1 we provide a sampling of previous work on language contact and language variation and describe the link between them. We then discuss the linguistic outcomes of contact situations between signed and spoken languages versus signed and signed languages as they relate to the present investigation. In section 2 we describe how data were collected and annotated and in section 3 we present our findings. Section 4 includes a discussion of these findings with respect to previous work on language contact, language variation, and language attitudes. In section 5 we close with brief mention of how to expand upon this work in the future. 1.1 Background: Language contact and language variation Several studies of lexical variation in signed languages have been undertaken: Lucas, Bayley & Valli (1991) for American Sign Language (ASL); Schembri, Johnston & Goswell (2006), Schembri & Johnston (2006, 2007) for Australian Sign Language (Auslan); and McKee & McKee (2011) for New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL), just to 1 Many thanks are in order here. First to our consultants (and in particular NB who has maintained contact with me and always been eager to answer questions), who shared their language with our group.
    [Show full text]
  • Typology of Signed Languages: Differentiation Through Kinship Terminology Erin Wilkinson
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of New Mexico University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository Linguistics ETDs Electronic Theses and Dissertations 7-1-2009 Typology of Signed Languages: Differentiation through Kinship Terminology Erin Wilkinson Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ling_etds Recommended Citation Wilkinson, Erin. "Typology of Signed Languages: Differentiation through Kinship Terminology." (2009). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ling_etds/40 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Electronic Theses and Dissertations at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Linguistics ETDs by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TYPOLOGY OF SIGNED LANGUAGES: DIFFERENTIATION THROUGH KINSHIP TERMINOLOGY BY ERIN LAINE WILKINSON B.A., Language Studies, Wellesley College, 1999 M.A., Linguistics, Gallaudet University, 2001 DISSERTATION Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Linguistics The University of New Mexico Albuquerque, New Mexico August, 2009 ©2009, Erin Laine Wilkinson ALL RIGHTS RESERVED iii DEDICATION To my mother iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Many thanks to Barbara Pennacchi for kick starting me on my dissertation by giving me a room at her house, cooking me dinner, and making Italian coffee in Rome during November 2007. Your endless support, patience, and thoughtful discussions are gratefully taken into my heart, and I truly appreciate what you have done for me. I heartily acknowledge Dr. William Croft, my advisor, for continuing to encourage me through the long number of months writing and rewriting these chapters.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyright by Susan Smythe Kung 2007
    Copyright by Susan Smythe Kung 2007 The Dissertation Committee for Susan Smythe Kung Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: A Descriptive Grammar of Huehuetla Tepehua Committee: Nora C. England, Supervisor Carlota S. Smith Megan Crowhurst Anthony C. Woodbury Paulette Levy James K. Watters A Descriptive Grammar of Huehuetla Tepehua by Susan Smythe Kung, B.A.; M.A. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin May 2007 Dedication For the Tepehua people of Huehuetla, Hidalgo, Mexico, and especially for Nicolás. If it were not for their friendship and help, I never would have begun this dissertation. If it were not for their encouragement of me, as well as their commitment to my project, I never would have finished it. Acknowledgements My first and largest debt of gratitude goes to all of the speakers of Huehuetla Tepehua who contributed in some way to this grammar. Without them, this volume would not exist. I want to thank the Vigueras family, in particular, for taking me into their home and making me a part of their family: don Nicolás, his wife doña Fidela, their children Nico, Tonio, Mari, Carmelo, Martín, Lupe, and Laurencio, and their daughter-in-law Isela. Not only do I have a home here in the U.S., but I also have a home in Huehuetla with them. There was also the extended family, who lived in the same courtyard area and who also took me in and gave me free access to their homes and their lives: don Nicolás’ mother doña Angela, his two brothers don Laurencio and don Miguel, their wives doña Fidela and doña Juana, and all of their children.
    [Show full text]
  • Sulawesi Phonologies (Workpapers in Indonesian Languages And
    WORIKPAPERS IN INDONESIAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES Vol~um~e 12 THE SUM~MER INSTITU'TE OF LINGUISTICS IN COUPERATION \VITH~ TH~E DEPARTM~ENT OF EDUCATlON AND CULTURE WORKPAPERS IN INDONESIAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES Volume 12 SULAWESI PHONOLOGIES Rene van den Berg Editor THE SUMMER INSTITUTE OF LINGUISTICS IN COOPERATION WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND CULTURE WORKPAPERS IN INDONESIAN LANGUAGES AND CULTURES VOLUME 12 SULAWESI PHONOLOGIES René van den Berg, Editor Printed 1991 Ujung Pandang, Sulawesi, "Indonesia Copies of this publication may be obtained from The Summer Institute of Linguistics KUlak Posl64 Ujung Pundang 90001 Sulewesi Selatan Indonesia Microfiche copies of this and other publications ofThe Summer Institute of Linguistics may be obtained from Academic Book Center The Summer Institute of Linguistics 7500 West Camp Wisdom Road Dallas, TX 75235 U.S.A. ISBN 979-8132-85-8 FOREWORD Earlier issues of Workpapers in Indonesian Languages and Cultures that focused on Sulawesi have dealt with survey results (see volumes 5 and 11). This is the first to be exclusively devoted to the results of phonological analysis in Sulawesi, following the pattern set by the volumes dealing with phonologies of Maluku and Irian Jaya languages. The phonologies of five languages are presented, three of which belong to the lesser known languages of the South Sulawesi group. PUS (Pitu Ulunna Salu) is described by Philip Campbell, Mamasa by DaVId Matti, and Aralle- Tabulahan by Robin McKenzie. Although the phonology of Mamasa appears to be very similar to that of Sa'dan Toraja, the other two languages show remarkable divergences, such as the presence of a sixth vowel, constraints on final nasals (only m in PUS) and the development of geminate consonants intohp,ht, etc.
    [Show full text]
  • Sound Symbolism, Speech Identity, and Size Andrew Shibata May, 2017 Phonlab, UC Berkeley Advisors
    UC Berkeley Phonetics and Phonology Lab Annual Report (2017) Sound symbolism, speech identity, and size Andrew Shibata May, 2017 PhonLab, UC Berkeley Advisors: Keith Johnson, Alice Shen Second Reader: Susan Lin 141 UC Berkeley Phonetics and Phonology Lab Annual Report (2017) Abstract Sound symbolism is the hypothesized property for sounds to convey semantic meaning. Shinohara and Kawahara (2010) proposed that features of vowels (frontness, height) and obstruents (voicing) cause listeners to perceive words as either larger or smaller. Study 1 firstly replicates the original experiment then repeats the experiment using a speech perception paradigm. The speech perception experiment assesses whether listeners perceive sizes differently between spoken language and visual reading. The results from Study 1 were consistent with Shinohara and Kawahara (2010) except that words with /u/ were perceived as smaller in our results. We hypothesized that this result may be due to u-fronting which is an iconic feature of Californian English so we repeated both the written word and speech perception experiments in Study 2 with non-Californian English speakers. Our results support Shinohara and Kawahara’s claims and suggest that speakers perceive dialect-specific phonetic properties from written word. 1. Introduction 1.1 Traditional perspective on form and meaning One long-held assumption in linguistics is that the physical form of a linguistic signal is independent of its meaning. This idea is attributed to Ferdinand de Saussure who stated in his Course in General Linguistics that “the bond between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary” (De Saussure & Baskin, 2011). Saussure argues that the idea conveyed by a word is not linked to the ordered set of sounds that make up the word.
    [Show full text]
  • Laryngealization in Upper Necaxa Totonac Rebekka Puderbaugh
    Laryngealization in Upper Necaxa Totonac by Rebekka Puderbaugh A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Linguistics University of Alberta Examining committee: Dr. Anja Arnhold, Supervisor Dr. David Beck, Supervisor Dr. Benjamin V. Tucker, Examiner Dr. Stephanie Archer, Examiner Dr. Ryan Shosted, External examiner Dr. John Nychka, Pro Dean © Rebekka Puderbaugh, 2019 Abstract This dissertation examines laryngealization contrasts in vowels and fricatives in Upper Necaxa Totonac. In vowels the contrast is presumed to be realized as a form of non- modal phonation, while fricatives are supposed to differ according to their production mechanism. The goal of this dissertation is to provide evidence that will help to deter- mine whether the phonetic characteristics of these sounds align with the impressionistic descriptions of their phonological categories. Laryngealization categories were first examined via a corpus analysis in Chapter 3. The analysis revealed a highly frequent co-occurrence of laryngealized vowels and following glottal stops. No relationship was found between vowel laryngealization and ejective fricatives. In Chapter 4 an analysis of the difference in amplitude between the first and second harmonics (H1-H2) in laryngealized and non-laryngealized vowels showed that H1-H2 values were not influenced by vowel laryngealization categories, but were influenced the presence of a glottal stop following the vowel. This finding suggests that the laryngealization contrast neutralizes in vowels before glottal stops. In order to consider the potentially glottalic nature of ejective fricatives in UNT, Chapter 5 compared durations of phonetic events that occur during fricative production, including oral closure and frication.
    [Show full text]
  • The Two Meanings of Sound Symbolism
    Open Linguistics 2017; 3: 491–499 Research Article Hilke Elsen* The Two Meanings of Sound Symbolism https://doi.org/10.1515/opli-2017-0024 Received March 29, 2017; accepted September 24, 2017 Abstract: This article deals with sound symbolism and the ways to interpret sound symbolic phenomena. Sound symbolism appears to be a universal phenomenon but linguists tend to neglect it or offer heterogeneous approaches and definitions. This paper is concerned with the role of motivation, as assumed in cases like cuckoo, and the question whether some sound symbolic effects might be the result of acquired statistical knowledge about the language system. The author argues that several aspects of sound symbolism such as natural/iconic or habitual relationships between sound and (facets of) referents interact but should be considered separately to gain a more realistic insight into the working of sound symbolism. Keywords: Iconicity, definitions, size-sound symbolism, names, language universals, phonestheme 1 Introduction Research on sound symbolism was never really popular, perhaps due to the dominance of Western European and US-American research and Ferdinand de Saussure’s conclusion that the relation between form and meaning of the linguistic sign was arbitrary - except for a few onomatopoetic terms. Still, from time to time, authors would offer experiments and new ideas on sound symbolism, including some of the most cited ones such as Sapir (1929), Köhler (1929), Jespersen (1933), Jakobson (1971), French (1976), Ultan (1978), Hinton/Nichols/Ohala (1994) and Nuckolls (1999), to name just a few. Likewise, French and German publications contributed interesting insights, such as Uznadze (1924), Müller (1935), Wissemann (1954), Chastaing (1958ff.), Fónagy (1963), Peterfalvi (1964ff.), Ertel (1969) or Etzel (1983).
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction Sound Symbolism in the Age of Digital Orality. a Perspective
    Signifiances (Signifying), 3(1), XXXVI-LXVIII DOI : https://doi.org/10.18145/signifiances.v3i1.248 Introduction Sound symbolism in the age of digital orality. A perspective on language beyond 'nature' and 'culture' Luca Nobile1 Abstract After recalling the main empirical evidence in favour of sound symbolism, this Introduction presents the contributions offered by the authors of this issue of Signifiances (Signifying). It then addresses some of the epistemological and metaphysical issues that a full integration of sound symbolism into language theory entails, particularly concerning the relationship between language and reality, and between nature and culture. Finally, it proposes to explain the centuries-old preference of scholars for the arbitrariness of the sign as an effect of the pre- eminent role that writing on paper has played in their pragmatic-cognitive experience of language up to the digital revolution. Keywords: iconicity; orality; writing; epistemology of language sciences; ecology of mind. Résumé Après avoir rappelé les principales preuves empiriques en faveur du symbolisme phonétique, cette Introduction présente les contributions offertes par les auteurs du présent numéro de Signifiances (Signifying). Elle aborde ensuite certains des enjeux épistémologiques et métaphysiques qu'une pleine intégration du symbolisme phonétique dans la théorie du langage comporte, concernant notamment le rapport entre langage et réalité, et entre nature et culture. Elle propose enfin d'expliquer la préférence pluriséculaire des savants pour l'arbitraire du signe comme un effet du rôle prééminent que l'écriture sur papier a joué dans leur expérience pragmatico-cognitive du langage jusqu'à la révolution numérique. Mots-clés: iconicité ; oralité ; écriture ; épistémologie des sciences du langage ; écologie de l'esprit.
    [Show full text]
  • THE ICONICITY of CONSONANTS in ACTION WORDS by XINJIA PENG
    THE ICONICITY OF CONSONANTS IN ACTION WORDS by XINJIA PENG A THESIS Presented to the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts June 2013 THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Student: Xinjia Peng Title: The Iconicity of Consonants in Action Words This thesis has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Arts degree in the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures by: Zhuo Jing-Schmidt Chairperson Kaori Idemaru Member and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research and Innovation; Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2013 ii © 2013 Xinjia Peng iii THESIS ABSTRACT Xinjia Peng Master of Arts The Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures June 2013 Title: The Iconicity of Consonants in Action Words Saurssure argues that the relationship between form and meaning in language is arbitrary, but sound symbolism theory argues that there are forms in language that can develop non-arbitrary association with meanings. This thesis proposes that there is a sound symbolic association between consonants and action words. To be more specific, a stop sound is likely to be associated with the action of percussion and a continuant sound with continuing movements. Evidence for such an association was found through three empirical studies. The findings of two experiments revealed that such an association is motivated by the gestures when pronouncing the consonants and by their phonetic features.
    [Show full text]
  • ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: an EXAMINATION of the INFLUENCE of AGE on L2 ACQUISITION of ENGLISH SOUND-SYMBOLIC P
    ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: AN EXAMINATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF AGE ON L2 ACQUISITION OF ENGLISH SOUND-SYMBOLIC PATTERNS Written by: Jeansue Mueller, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017 Directed by: Professor Nan Jiang Department of Second Language Acquisition A number of researchers (DeKeyser, 2012; J. S. Johnson & Newport, 1989; Long, 1990) have argued that age is a critical factor in second language acquisition. This conclusion is based on extensive research over the last two decades that has demonstrated age-related effects in learners’ nonnativelike acquisition of phonology, morphosyntax, pragmatics, and discourse-level features of language. In the wake of such findings, there has recently been an increased interest in determining the precise linguistic areas that are difficult for adult learners and the cognitive mechanisms implicated in age-related effects. Because implicit learning plays a key role in first-language (L1) acquisition, particularly in the acquisition of statistical patterns in language, it has been proposed that age effects may be the result of attenuated implicit learning capabilities in late-teen and adult learners (DeKeyser, 2000; Janacsek, Fiser, & Nemeth, 2012). If this is true, age-related effects should be significant in linguistic areas that are not readily amenable to conscious learning processes and explicit instruction. To determine whether this is in fact the case, this study examined the linguistic knowledge of native speakers (NSs), early L2 learners, and learners who acquired English as adults. In particular, it examined these groups’ knowledge related to an area of English that is hypothesized to be difficult to learn explicitly, namely, English sound-symbolic (SS) patterns. Participants were composed of English NSs (n = 20) and three NNS groups with L1 Korean and L2 of English.
    [Show full text]