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Theses, dissertations and research publications (including journal articles, conference abstracts and books) from Lund University are collected in this database. Where possible, the option to download a full text document is available. It is also possible to search for Lund University student theses in the student theses database.
| Title | Cross-modal iconicity: A cognitive semiotic approach to sound symbolism |
| Author/s | Felix Ahlner, Jordan Zlatev |
| Department/s |
Linguistics and Phonetics
|
| Full-text | Full text is not available in this archive |
| Alternative location (URL) | http://search.ebscohost.com/lo... Restricted Access (Alternative Location) |
| Publication/Series | Sign Systems Studies |
| Publishing year | 2010 |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue | 1/4 |
| Pages | 298 - 348 |
| Document type | Journal article |
| Status | published |
| Quality controlled | yes |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | University of Tartu |
| Abstract English | It is being increasingly recognized that the Saussurean dictum of "the arbitrariness of the linguistic sign" is in conflict with the pervasiveness of the phenomenon commonly known as "sound symbolism". After first presenting a historical overview of the debate, however, we conclude that both positions have been exaggerated, and that an adequate explanation of sound symbolism is still lacking. How can there, for example, be (perceived) similarity between expressions and contents across different sensory modalities? We offer an answer, based on the Peircian notion of iconic ground, and G. Sonesson's distinction between primary and secondary iconicity. Furthermore, we describe an experimental study, in a paradigm first pioneered by W. Kohler, and recently popularized by V. Ramachandran, in which we varied vowels and consonants in fictive word-forms, and conclude that both types of sounds play a role in perceiving an iconic ground between the word-forms and visual figures. The combination of historical conceptual analysis, semiotic explication and psychological experimentation presented in this article is characteristic of the emerging paradigm of cognitive semiotics. |
| Subject |
Languages and Literatures |
| Keywords | sound symbolism, iconicity, arbitrariness, ideophones, psychomimes, expressives, semiotics, cognitive semiotics |
| ISBN/ISSN/Other |
ISSN: 1406-4243 |
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