A survey of acoustic features of gunshot onomatopoeia

Abstract

Sound symbolism is known as a phenomenon in which the sound itself evokes a specific impression. Although there have been many reports on sound symbolism, the whole aspect of sound symbolism is still unknown. In order to clarify the whole aspect of sound symbolism, we are attempting to collect and investigate many examples of sound symbolism. In this study, we hired “gunshot onomatopoeia” and “close combat onomatopoeia”, which are considered to be examples of sound symbolism, and investigated the differences in the acoustic features of the two. Machine-learning classifications were used for the investigation, and the differences were analysed from the classification results.