The sound of soft alcohol: Crossmodal associations between interjections and liquor

Bodo Winter, Paula Pérez-Sobrino, Lucien Brown

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Citations (Scopus)
249 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

An increasing number of studies reveal crossmodal correspondences between speech sounds and perceptual features such as shape and size. In this study, we show that an interjection Koreans produce when downing a shot of liquor reliably triggers crossmodal associations in American English, German, Spanish, and Chinese listeners who do not speak Korean. Based on how this sound is used in advertising campaigns for the Korean liquor soju, we derive predictions for different crossmodal associations. Our experiments show that the same speech sound is reliably associated with various perceptual, affective, and social meanings. This demonstrates what we call the 'pluripotentiality' of iconicity, that is, the same speech sound is able to trigger a web of interrelated mental associations across different dimensions. We argue that the specific semantic associations evoked by iconic stimuli depend on the task, with iconic meanings having a 'latent' quality that becomes 'actual' in specific semantic contexts. We outline implications for theories of iconicity and advertising.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere0220449
JournalPLoS ONE
Volume14
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 8 Aug 2019

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)
  • Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all)
  • General

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