Sound Symbolism in English: Weighing the Evidence

Abstract

It is generally recognized that the form of some words is not entirely arbitrary. Some words are clearly partly onomatopoeic, as with buzz, but claims are often made that there are correlations between form and meaning that do not always involve sound, initial gl- allegedly being associated with emitting light as in glitter, glimmer and glow, and the rhyme -ump being associated with a solid mass as in words like lump, stump and rump. This is sound symbolism or phonaesthesia. An exploration of the Oxford English Dictionary reveals that while some proposed examples have little or no basis, some sets of rhymes such as -ash and -ump and the group of words with the onset fl- can be shown to have grown considerably during the Modern Period with some echoic formations, some blends and some shifts of meaning. The oft-claimed association of high-front vowels with smallness and low vowels with largeness also receives some support. Compounds with vowel alternation or onset alternation also exhibit sound symbolism.

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