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Article published In:
Scientific Study of Literature
Vol. 11:1 (2021) ► pp.3–34

Sound-meaning relations in Japanese Tanka

Formant dispersion of vowels is associated with dominance and activity

| National University of Singapore
This study aimed to test sound-meaning relations in Japanese poetry. To this end, participants assessed the sentiments expressed in a random selection of Tanka (a specific form of Japanese poetry) on six bipolar scales comprising Evaluation (emotional valence), Potency (dominance), and Activity (arousal). The selected Tanka differed with regard to their average formant-dispersion (i.e., the distance between the first and second formant). Corroborating results of a previous study that tested the relation between formant dispersion and emotional tone in German poetry, results suggest that poems with an extremely low average formant dispersion have a significantly higher likelihood of expressing dominance and activity than poems with an extremely high formant dispersion. No significant differences regarding the Evaluation dimension were found.
Keywords: sound iconicity, sound symbolism, formant dispersion, emotion, dominance, activity, arousal
Article outline
  • Sound-Meaning relations in Japanese Tanka: Formant dispersion of vowels is associated with dominance and activity
    • Objectives and hypothesis
  • Method
    • Participants
    • Materials
      • Tanka
    • Procedure
    • Data analysis
  • Results
    • Analysis of variance: Effect of Tankas’ category on readers’ assessment
    • Tukey test for multiple comparisons between categories
    • Comparison between ratings per item
    • Linear-Mixed-Model regression: Individual differences between participants
  • Discussion
  • Supplementary materials
    • Authors of selected Tankas
    • Japanese
    • Invitation
    • Instructions
  • References
Published online: 17 December 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ssol.21006.aur
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