Abstract
Sound symbolism is a phenomenon that voice itself evokes some images related to sensory experiences. Articulatory mediation hypothesis of sound symbolism underlines the cross-modal relationship between kinetic movements of the articulatory organs associated with voice pronunciation and following proprioceptive sensations. Despite the importance of this relationship to pursue the factor of the formation of sound symbolism, it remains a crucial problem with the lack of sufficient experimental proof for the connection between voice pronunciation and sensory experiences. Purpose of this paper is to demonstrate stimulus-response compatibility between pronunciation of voiced/voiceless consonants and brightness of visual stimuli with stimulus-response compatibility task. In the experiment, reaction time of congruent condition (e.g. brightness and pronunciation of voiceless consonants, darkness and pronunciation of voiced consonants) was significantly shorter than that of incongruent condition (e.g. darkness and pronunciation of voiceless consonants, brightness and pronunciation of voiced consonants). This result shows stimulus-response compatibility between pronunciation of voiced/voiceless consonants and brightness of visual stimuli. This compatibility provides an important foothold to consider about the relationship between voice pronunciation and sensory experiences as a factor of sound symbolism.
