Speakers of 28 languages linked sound and shape at least 88% of the time, in ‘strongest case of sound symbolism to date’
  • AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space
    1·
    2 months ago

    I’m guessing it’s to do with the perturbed waveform. Someone should do a followup study to see whether any other sounds with similar characteristics(i.e. an idling car engine, a TR-808 drum machine handclap) would have similar associations.

    • Lvxferre@mander.xyzM
      3·
      2 months ago

      I think that this is most likely the case:

      In the audio for this spectrogram I’ve pronounced [rä arä lä älä]. Even with all background noise, it’s obvious how smoother the [l] is in comparison with [r] - in one you’re simply redirecting the airflow laterally, in another you’re “turning” it on and off, by hitting the alveolar ridge with the tongue.