{"pk":49539,"title":"Automatic Detection of Phonestheme-like features in Japanese – Insights for Cognitive Sound Symbolism Research","subtitle":null,"abstract":"Sound symbolism is a linguistic feature that may suggest a non-arbitrary link between sound and semantic content that has been shown to play a role in language acquisition, and potentially language evolution. One sound-symbolic structure known as phonesthemes has been identified in many languages. Phonesthemes are sub-morphemic sound patterns associated with specific meanings more frequently than chance. Cognitive approaches to phonesthemes typically rely on a known example. Phonesthemes are not well attested in Japanese, so this approach is not an easy option. This research provides a route for research into the cognitive effects -- in particular language acquisition -- of Japanese sound symbolism. I present a model for identifying phonestheme-like features in Japanese adapted from a model originally used with English and identify two candidates in Japanese. I also outline methods for empirically testing the psychological reality of these clusters based on existing English and Japanese sound symbolism literature.","language":"eng","license":{"name":"","short_name":"","text":null,"url":""},"keywords":[{"word":"Linguistics; Psychology; Language acquisition; Language and thought; Natural Language Processing"}],"section":"Papers with Poster Presentation","is_remote":true,"remote_url":"https://escholarship.org/uc/item/82h5z41d","frozenauthors":[{"first_name":"Thomas","middle_name":"","last_name":"Parker","name_suffix":"","institution":"San Francisco State University","department":""}],"date_submitted":null,"date_accepted":null,"date_published":"2025-01-01T18:00:00Z","render_galley":null,"galleys":[{"label":"PDF","type":"pdf","path":"https://journalpub.escholarship.org/cognitivesciencesociety/article/49539/galley/37501/download/"}]}