抄録
Onomatopoeia is a powerful means to convey characteristics of sounds and also important for designing sounds. We conducted an experiment wherein 493 people, aged 7-81 years, and 376 kindergarteners, aged 3-6 years, were requested to imitate pure sounds of 62.5 Hz, 500 Hz, and 4 kHz with onomatopoeic voices. We analysed differences in trends of onomatopoeic expressions based on gender and age. Various onomatopoeic voices were produced by the subjects, many of which were those starting with consonants “P” or “B” followed by long vowels. There were significant gender differences in their starting consonants at 500 Hz and 4 kHz, whereas age differences were remarkable at 62.5 Hz and 500 Hz. A significant difference was observed in both gender and age at 500 Hz for long vowels. The onomatopoeic voices indicated by the kindergarteners had a lot of variations, among which their consonants in particular were found to be significantly different from that of adults at all frequencies. Noticeable gaps were found between three-year-old children and adults in vowels, but the gaps in vowels of the children became closer to those of adults as they aged.
