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Sound-symbolic association between speech sound and spatial meaning in relation to the concepts of up/down and above/below

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 July 2023

Lari Vainio Open the ORCID record for Lari Vainio [Opens in a new window] ,
Alexandra Wikström Open the ORCID record for Alexandra Wikström [Opens in a new window] ,
Claudia Repetto  and
Martti Vainio
Lari Vainio*
Affiliation:
Perception, Action & Cognition Research Group, Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland Phonetics and Speech Synthesis Research Group, Department of Digital Humanities, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Alexandra Wikström
Affiliation:
Phonetics and Speech Synthesis Research Group, Department of Digital Humanities, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Claudia Repetto
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy
Martti Vainio
Affiliation:
Phonetics and Speech Synthesis Research Group, Department of Digital Humanities, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
*
Corresponding author: Lari Vainio; Email: lari.vainio@helsinki.fi
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Abstract

Research has shown sound-symbolic associations between speech sounds and conceptual and/or perceptual properties of a referent. This study used the choice response time method to investigate hypothesized associations between a high/low vowel and spatial concepts of up/down and above/below. The participants were presented with a stimulus that moved either upward or downward (Experiments 1 and 2), or that was located above or below the reference stimulus (Experiment 3), and they had to pronounce a vowel ([i] or [æ]) based on the spatial location of the stimulus. The study showed that the high vowel [i] was produced faster in relation to the up-directed and the above-positioned stimulus, while the low vowel [æ] was produced faster in relation to the down-directed and the below-positioned stimulus. In addition, the study replicated the pitch-elevation effect showing a raising of the vocalization pitch when vocalizations were produced to the up-directed stimulus. The article discusses these effects in terms of the involvement of sensorimotor processes in representing spatial concepts.

Keywords

sound symbolismspatial conceptsvocalizationspeech
Type
Article
Information
Language and Cognition , Volume 15 , Issue 4 , December 2023 , pp. 884 - 903
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

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