Journal of the Phonetic Society of Japan
Online ISSN : 2189-5961
Print ISSN : 1342-8675
Research Notes
Do Labial Consonants Evoke the Images of Softness and Cuteness Cross-linguistically?: An Experiment with Chinese and Korean Speakers
Gakuji KumagaiChangyun Moon
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JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2021 Volume 25 Pages 87-96

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to report on an experiment that examined whether labial consonants evoked images of softness and cuteness in Chinese and Korean and to discuss cross-linguistic similarities and differences in sound-symbolic associations. The main findings of the study were: 1) not all labial consonants were associated with such images in Chinese and Korean; 2) the labial consonants judged appropriate for a ‘soft’ image were always judged appropriate for a ‘cute’ image in both Chinese and Korean as well as in Japanese; and 3) the bilabial sonorant [m] evoked images of softness and cuteness in Chinese and Korean as well as in Japanese and English.

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