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Sound symbolism in personal names: Experimental and corpus-based explorations

Research Project

Project/Area Number 17K13448
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Research Field Linguistics
Research InstitutionKeio University

Principal Investigator

Kawahara Shigeto  慶應義塾大学, 言語文化研究所(三田), 准教授 (80718792)

Project Period (FY) 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2020)
Budget Amount *help
¥4,030,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥930,000)
Fiscal Year 2020: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
Fiscal Year 2019: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000)
Fiscal Year 2018: ¥1,560,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥360,000)
Fiscal Year 2017: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000)
Keywords言語学 / 音声学 / 音象徴 / 言語学教育 / アウトリーチ活動 / 理論言語学 / 実験音韻論 / 意味論 / 最大エントロピーモデル / ポケモン / プリキュア / オムツ / 実験音声学 / 濁音 / 音韻論
Outline of Final Research Achievements

Most linguistic theories in the twentieth century have assumed that the relationships between sounds and meanings are in principle arbitrary. Recent research in linguistics and psychology has shown that we observe patterns of sound symbolism, systematic associations between sounds and meanings. In this research, I have used experimentation and corpus-based research to explore the nature of sound symbolic patterns in natural languages. The primary target language was Japanese, but through collaborative research, I have also conducted research on other languages, including English and Brazilian Portuguese. The overall research has revealed intriguing patterns of systematic sound-meaning associations, as well as what their phonetic bases might be. I have also attempted to model sound symbolic patterns using a framework that is developed in the theoretical linguistics literature. I have published many research articles in international academic journals and gave talks at various venues.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

音と意味の間に体系的なつながりがあり、また、そのつながりが音声学的な基盤を持っていることを明らかにすることで、従来の言語観の一つの根幹を成す「音と意味の恣意性」に対して、大きな風穴を開けることができた。また、ポケモンなどの名付けを研究することで、この音象徴現象を実際のマーケティングの場で生かすための基礎研究となることが期待される。さらに、ポケモンやプリキュアといった言語学に触れたことのない人にも親しみやすい題材を分析することによって、言語学を専門としない人や学生に対しても、言語分析の意義を発信することができた。この研究を通して、アメリカやブラジルの大学と共同研究を行い、学術的国際交流を深めた。

Report

(5 results)
  • 2020 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2019 Research-status Report
  • 2018 Research-status Report
  • 2017 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (54 results)

All 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 Other

All Int'l Joint Research (12 results) Journal Article (17 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 3 results,  Peer Reviewed: 14 results,  Open Access: 6 results) Presentation (19 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 5 results,  Invited: 9 results) Book (2 results) Remarks (3 results) Funded Workshop (1 results)

  • [Int'l Joint Research] University of Rio Grande do Norte(ブラジル)

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] University of California, Los Angeles/University of Southern California/University of Chicago(米国)

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] University of Singapore(シンガポール)

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] Federal University of Rio Grande(ブラジル)

    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] University of Southern California/University of California, Berkeley/University of Chicago(米国)

    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] National University of Singapore(シンガポール)

    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] Stanford University/University of Southern California/Chicago University(米国)

    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] National University of Singapore(シンガポール)

    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] Universidade Federal do Rio Grande(ブラジル)

    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] Chonnam National University(韓国)

    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] University of California, Berkeley/University of Southern California/University of Chicago(米国)

    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
  • [Int'l Joint Research] National University of Singapore(Singapore)

    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
  • [Journal Article] Exploring the nature of cumulativity in sound symbolism: Experimental studies of Pokemonastics with English speakers2021

    • Author(s)
      Kawahara Shigeto、Breiss Canaan
    • Journal Title

      Laboratory Phonology: Journal of the Association for Laboratory Phonology

      Volume: 12 Issue: 1

    • DOI

      10.5334/labphon.280

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] Sound symbolism in Brazilian Portuguese Pokemon names: Evidence for cross-linguistic similarities and differences2021

    • Author(s)
      Mahayana C. Godoy, Andre Lucas Gomes, Gakuji Kumagai, Shigeto Kawahara
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Portuguese Linguistics

      Volume: 20(1) Issue: 1 Pages: 1-23

    • DOI

      10.5334/jpl.257

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] What voiced obstruents symbolically represent in Japanese: evidence from the Pokemon universe2021

    • Author(s)
      Kawahara Shigeto、Kumagai Gakuji
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Japanese Linguistics

      Volume: 37 Issue: 1 Pages: 3-24

    • DOI

      10.1515/jjl-2021-2031

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
  • [Journal Article] Pokemon meets psychology and linguistics: Experimental and theoretical exploration of the bouba-kiki effect2021

    • Author(s)
      Kawahara, Shigeto
    • Journal Title

      Phonological Studies

      Volume: 24 Pages: 77-84

    • NAID

      40022530788

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] A wug-shaped curve in sound symbolism: the case of Japanese Pokemon names2020

    • Author(s)
      Kawahara Shigeto
    • Journal Title

      Phonology

      Volume: 37 Issue: 3 Pages: 383-418

    • DOI

      10.1017/s0952675720000202

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
  • [Journal Article] Sound symbolism and theoretical phonology2020

    • Author(s)
      Kawahara Shigeto
    • Journal Title

      Language and Linguistics Compass

      Volume: 14 Issue: 8

    • DOI

      10.1111/lnc3.12372

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] What’s in a villain’s name? Sound symbolic values of voiced obstruents and bilabial consonants2020

    • Author(s)
      Uno, Ryoko, Kazuko Shinohara, Yuta Hosokawa, Naho Atsumi, Gakuji Kumagai and Shigeto Kawahara
    • Journal Title

      Review of Cognitive Linguistics

      Volume: 18 Pages: 428-457

    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] Gotta name'em all: an experimental study on the sound symbolism of Pokemon names in Brazilian Portuguese2019

    • Author(s)
      Godoy, Mahayana C., Neemias Silva de Souza Filho, Juliana G. Marques de Souza, Halis Alves, Shigeto Kawahara
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Psycholinguistic Research

      Volume: - Issue: 5 Pages: 717-740

    • DOI

      10.1007/s10936-019-09679-2

    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Journal Article] What's in a PreCure name?2019

    • Author(s)
      Kawahara, Shigeto
    • Journal Title

      ICU Working Papers in Linguistics

      Volume: 7 Pages: 15-22

    • NAID

      120006646452

    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
  • [Journal Article] Expressing Evolution in Pokemon Names: Experimental Explorations.2019

    • Author(s)
      Kawahara, Shigeto and Gakuji Kumagai
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Japanese Linguistics

      Volume: 35 Issue: 1 Pages: 3-38

    • DOI

      10.1515/jjl-2019-2002

    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
  • [Journal Article] Inferring Pokemon types using sound symbolism: The effects of voicing and labiality2019

    • Author(s)
      Kawahara, Shigeto and Gakuji Kumagai
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Phonetic Society of Japan

      Volume: 23 Pages: 111-116

    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] Teaching phonetics through sound symbolism2019

    • Author(s)
      Kawahara, Shigeto
    • Journal Title

      Proceedings of ISAPh.

      Volume: -

    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
  • [Journal Article] Expressing Evolution in Pokemon Names: Experimental Explorations2019

    • Author(s)
      Shigeto Kawahara, Gakuji Kumagai
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Japanese Linguistics

      Volume: 印刷中

    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] ポケモン名付けにおける母音と有声阻害音効果: 実験と理論からアプローチ2019

    • Author(s)
      熊谷学而・川原繁人
    • Journal Title

      言語研究

      Volume: 155

    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Journal Article] Acquisition of the takete-maluma effect by Japanese speakers2019

    • Author(s)
      Shigeto Kawahara, Miwa Isobe, Yukino Kobayashi, Tomoko Okabe, Reiko Okabe, and Yasuyo Minagawa
    • Journal Title

      REPORTS of the Keio Institute of Cultural and Linguistic Studies

      Volume: 50 Pages: 63-78

    • NAID

      120006650271

    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
  • [Journal Article] Sound symbolic patterns in Pokemon names2018

    • Author(s)
      Kawahara, Shigeto, Atsushi Noto, and Gakuji Kumagai
    • Journal Title

      Phonetica

      Volume: 75 Issue: 3 Pages: 219-244

    • DOI

      10.1159/000484938

    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report 2017 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
  • [Journal Article] Acquisition of sound symbolic values of vowels and voiced obstruents by Japanese children: Using a Pokemonastics paradigm.2018

    • Author(s)
      Shigeto Kawahara, Miwa Isobe, Yukino Kobayashi, Tomoko Monou and Reiko Okabe
    • Journal Title

      Journal of the Phonetic Society of Japan

      Volume: 22(2) Pages: 122-130

    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
    • Peer Reviewed
  • [Presentation] Pokemonastics: what we are doing and why we are doing it2020

    • Author(s)
      Shigeto Kawahara
    • Organizer
      Zentrum Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft
    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] IERS workshop: Current trends in the interface between phonetics and phonology2020

    • Author(s)
      Shigeto Kawahara
    • Organizer
      Interfacing sound symbolism with formal phonology
    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
  • [Presentation] プリキュア名と両唇音の音象徴 II: 実験的検証2020

    • Author(s)
      川原繁人
    • Organizer
      日本音声学会
    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] 音象徴と言語学ー教育と研究2020

    • Author(s)
      川原繁人
    • Organizer
      日本認知言語学会
    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] Exploring the nature of cumulativity through sound symbolism2020

    • Author(s)
      Kawahara, Shigeto and Canaan Breiss
    • Organizer
      Annual Meeting of Phonology
    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] MaxEnt Harmonic Grammar and sound symbolism: Two case studies from English2020

    • Author(s)
      Kawahara, Shigeto and Canaan Breiss
    • Organizer
      日本音韻論学会
    • Related Report
      2020 Annual Research Report
  • [Presentation] 私たちはどうしゃべっているのか?音声学への招待2020

    • Author(s)
      川原繁人
    • Organizer
      数理の翼伊計島セミナー
    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] 音とことばのふしぎな世界 2019:プリキュア、ポケモンから日本語ラップまで2019

    • Author(s)
      川原繁人
    • Organizer
      愛知大学招待講演
    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] The sound symbolic value of Japanese lexical pitch accent: A case study of baby diaper names2019

    • Author(s)
      Kumagai, Gakuji & Shigeto Kawahara
    • Organizer
      International Conference on Phonetics and Phonology (ICPP)
    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] プリキュア名と両唇音の音象徴2019

    • Author(s)
      川原繁人
    • Organizer
      日本音声学会第 33 回全国大会.
    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] 音節構造から生じる音象徴:赤ちゃん用オムツの名前の分析2019

    • Author(s)
      熊谷学而・川原繁人
    • Organizer
      日本音声学会第 33 回全国大会.
    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] 幼児はポケモン名付けに音象徴を用いるか-ポケモンのネーミングにおける母音と有声阻害音の効果-2018

    • Author(s)
      小林 ゆきの、磯部 美和、桃生 朋子、岡部 玲子、川原 繁人
    • Organizer
      日本言語学会第 156 回大会
    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] 続「あ」は「い」より大きい!?2018

    • Author(s)
      川原繁人
    • Organizer
      大東文化大学秋季英文学会
    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] 名付けの不思議と音声の不思議2018

    • Author(s)
      川原繁人
    • Organizer
      日本大学国際教養学科 第2回学術講演会
    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] Acquisition of the takete-maluma effects by Japanese speaker: A cross-sectional study2018

    • Author(s)
      Yukino Kobayashi, Miwa Isobe, Shigeto Kawahara, Tomoko Monou, Reiko Okabe, Kazuhiro Abe, Yasuyo Minagawa
    • Organizer
      MAPLL × TCP × TL × TaLK
    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Teaching phonetics through sound symbolism2018

    • Author(s)
      Shigeto Kawahara
    • Organizer
      The 2nd International Symposium on Applied Phonotics
    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
  • [Presentation] 音象徴からみる『音とことばのふしぎな世界』:ポケモン、ウルトラマン、メイドさん分析から言語学教育へ2017

    • Author(s)
      川原繁人
    • Organizer
      沖縄外語文学会
    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] ポケモンのネーミングにおける母音と有声阻害音の効果2017

    • Author(s)
      熊谷学而・川原繁人
    • Organizer
      日本言語学会第 155 回大会
    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
  • [Presentation] 音象徴の抽象性:赤ちゃん用オムツのネーミングにおける唇音2017

    • Author(s)
      熊谷学而・川原繁人
    • Organizer
      日本音声学会第31 回全国大会
    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
  • [Book] ビジュアル音声学2018

    • Author(s)
      川原繁人
    • Total Pages
      240
    • Publisher
      三省堂
    • ISBN
      4385365326
    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
  • [Book] 「あ」は「い」より大きい!?:音象徴で学ぶ音声学入門2017

    • Author(s)
      川原繁人
    • Total Pages
      210
    • Publisher
      ひつじ書房
    • ISBN
      9784894768864
    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
  • [Remarks] ポケモン音象徴研究のまとめ

    • URL

      http://user.keio.ac.jp/~kawahara/research.html

    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
  • [Remarks] The 1st international conference on Pokemonastics

    • URL

      https://1stpokemonastics.wordpress.com

    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report
  • [Remarks] The first conference on Pokemonastics

    • URL

      https://1stpokemonastics.wordpress.com

    • Related Report
      2017 Research-status Report
  • [Funded Workshop] The 1st international conference on Pokemonastics2018

    • Related Report
      2018 Research-status Report

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Published: 2017-04-28   Modified: 2022-02-21  

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