Sound Symbolism

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about sound symbolism, focusing in particular on: (i) the ‘bouba/kiki effect’, first documented by Wolfgang Köhler in 1929, which is the phenomenon whereby people attribute the former word to a rounder shape, and the latter to a sharper one; (ii) Edward’s Sapir’s 1929 ‘mill’ and ‘mall’ effect, whereby people tend to label a larger object ‘mall’ and a smaller one ‘mill’; (iii) the presence of the ‘i’ and ‘e’ sounds for small products, including the Mini and Seat Mii cars, as well as budget shops like Lidl, Aldi, Iceland and Ikea; (iv) anti-cancer medications overrepresenting fast and light sounds like ‘bah’ and ‘ta’, as they are trying to convey the speed and lightness of their medicine.

About the lecturer

Professor Charles Spence is head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at the University of Oxford. Professor Spence’s research interests include the application of the latest insights in cognitive neuroscience and the senses to the real world, including packaging and marketing. Some of Professor Spence’s recent publications include 'Sensory exploration of vegetables combined with a cookery class increases willingness to choose/eat plant-based food and drink' (2022) and 'Self-prioritization with unisensory and multisensory stimuli in a matching task' (2022).