The mechanism of sound symbolism: Innate and acquired interaction model based on the sensitive period

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1042.2022.02487

Abstract

Abstract:

The Bouba-kiki effect (i.e., BK effect) indicates the mapping between phonemes and shape features. The innate theory and acquired theory have heated debates on the mechanism of the BK effect. The innate theory holds that sensitivity to sound symbolism is inborn. On the contrary, the acquired theory holds that sound symbolism is the product of linguistic experience. The above-mentioned theories are both supported by many studies and neither of them can completely refute the other. This suggests that none of these theories fully reveal the mechanisms of the emergence of sound symbolism. Therefore, the present review systematically reviews previous findings that support the innate and acquired theories on the mechanism of the BK effect, respectively. Then, the present review first proposes the hypothesis of the sensitive period of the language-related BK effect and reviews recent studies that have provided preliminary evidence for the sensitive period of the BK effect. In addition, the present review also reviews potential factors that may affect the sensitive period of the BK effect. Specifically, the present study holds that the BK effect has a sensitive period that is similar to the critical period of language. The BK effect may be influenced by linguistic experience and the distribution of arbitrariness in language. On one hand, the early language learning experience may enhance the sensitivity of infants toward the BK effect. However, with the increase of age and language experiences, the sensitivity of the sound symbolism for adults gradually decreases. On the other hand, children mainly learn symbolic vocabulary in the early stage of language learning and children’s sound symbolism sensitivity gradually increases in this stage. When the proportion of arbitrary vocabulary gradually increases, children’s sensitivity to the sound symbolism gradually decreases. Furthermore, to integrate the above debates, the present review proposes the innate and acquired interaction model for sound symbolism based on the sensitive period of the language-related BK effect. This model holds that sound symbolism is supported by innate mechanisms and acquired experiences. In other words, sound symbolism is simultaneously influenced by the plasticity of the brain and the accumulated language experiences. In this way, children may have an innate “sound symbolism cognitive structure,” which enables them to map and integrate multi-modal inputs. Therefore, children are sensitive to all potential sound symbolism. In the early stage of language learning, the iconicity in language is prominent. Meanwhile, the sound symbolism cognitive structure can be triggered by children’s language expression and the sound symbolism schema is built through assimilation during this period. This process increases the brain’s sensitivity to sound symbolism. However, with the increase of vocabularies, the arbitrariness of the form-meaning mappings also increases. When the sound symbolism cognitive structure fails to assimilate the new vocabulary, the arbitrary schema is built through accommodation. In the accommodation process, the brain’s sensitivity to sound symbolism gradually decreases. As mentioned above, assimilation and accommodation simultaneously participate in language learning. The difference between assimilation and accommodation is that accommodation is gradually enhanced during the whole language learning period, while assimilation is only gradually enhanced during the sensitive period of sound symbolism and gradually decreased after this period. Eventually, with the increase of age and language experiences, assimilation and accommodation reach a dynamic balance. In particular, the proportion of the language’s arbitrariness and iconicity gradually tends to be stable and the sound symbolism cognitive structure is adapted to the external information. As a result, assimilation and accommodation maintain a relatively balanced state. Finally, the present study proposes future research directions for the sensitive period of sound symbolism.

Key words: sound symbolism, Bouba-Kiki effect, sensitivity period, arbitrariness, crossmodal correspondences

CLC Number:

B842

MA Yanan, HUANG Yanli, SHI Yujing, XIE Jiushu. The mechanism of sound symbolism: Innate and acquired interaction model based on the sensitive period[J]. Advances in Psychological Science, 2022, 30(11): 2487-2496.

Figures/Tables 3

References 62

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