logo
ResearchBunny Logo
Sound-meaning associations allow listeners to infer the meaning of foreign language words

Linguistics and Languages

Sound-meaning associations allow listeners to infer the meaning of foreign language words

S. Hayakawa and V. Marian

Discover how foreign words might reveal their meanings through sound! This intriguing research by Sayuri Hayakawa and Viorica Marian uncovers the regular patterns in sound-meaning associations across languages. With surprising results exceeding chance accuracy, this study explores the links between phonology and semantics, opening new avenues in linguistic understanding.

00:00
00:00
Playback language: English
Abstract
This study investigates whether the meaning of foreign words can be partially deduced from their phonological form. Monolingual English speakers and native Spanish speakers listened to antonym word pairs in various foreign languages and judged their English equivalents. Results showed accuracy exceeding chance, suggesting a regularity in sound-meaning mappings across languages. This ability correlated with verbal working memory and the consistency of phonological and semantic covariation across languages.
Publisher
Communications Psychology
Published On
Nov 02, 2023
Authors
Sayuri Hayakawa, Viorica Marian
Tags
foreign words
phonological form
meaning deduction
linguistics
working memory
semantic covariation

Related Publications

Explore these studies to deepen your understanding of the subject.

How young children integrate information sources to infer the meaning of words
Psychology

How young children integrate information sources to infer the meaning of words

M. Bohn, M. H. Tessler, et al.

“Let us talk”: incorporating the Coordinated Management of Meaning’s communication perspective as part of public diplomacy efforts between government, the private sector, and the foreign public
Political Science

“Let us talk”: incorporating the Coordinated Management of Meaning’s communication perspective as part of public diplomacy efforts between government, the private sector, and the foreign public

B. Limani and E. Limani

The potential of emotive language to influence the understanding of textual information in media coverage
Linguistics and Languages

The potential of emotive language to influence the understanding of textual information in media coverage

A. Absattar, M. Mambetova, et al.

Testing the predictive power of reverse screening to infer drug targets, with the help of machine learning
Chemistry

Testing the predictive power of reverse screening to infer drug targets, with the help of machine learning

A. Daina and V. Zoete

Listen, Learn & Level Up
Over 10,000 hours of research content in 25+ fields, available in 12+ languages.
No more digging through PDFs, just hit play and absorb the world's latest research in your language, on your time.
listen to research audio papers with researchbunny