Sound SymbolismIs there an Heroic Phoneme?

Amy Jo Parker

Wolfgang KöhlerBooba or Kiki?

Ferdinand de Saussure

“The bond uniting the signifier and the signified is arbitrary.”

Onomatopoeic Words are “less arbitrary”

Conventionalism vs. Naturalism

Edward Sapir

/a/ sounds bigger than other vowels.Law, La, Li

80% identified law as largest, la as

medium and Li as smallest.

Spanish: Grande, Grandota

Otto Jesperson

Pat, Tap, Knock

“The vowel /i/, especially in its narrow or thin variety, is particularly appropriate to express what is small, weak, insignificant, or the other hand, refined or dainty.”

Spanish: Pepe, Pepito

William Shakespeare

• Isabella• Edmund• Hamlet• Rosalind• Orlando• Macbeth• Puck• Katherina• Horatio• Antonio

• Petruchio• Helena• Prospero• Beatrice• Benedick• Othello• Portia• Bassanio• Romeo• Juliet

MethodologyUse the pronunciation directory in Shakespeare’s Complete Works.

!, #, $, %, @

20 Names, 128 Sounds

10% of sounds AND40 % of names

Ignore Schwa

AnalysisFrequency Among 128 Sounds

/o/ ~ 10.16%

Heroic Phoneme

!

#

$

%

@

a

b

d

E

h

I

J

k

l

m

n

o

p

r

s

t

u

x

z

Analysis

OrlandoPetruchioProsperoOthelloPortiaRomeoHoratioAntonio

40%

Conclusion

/o/ occurs with 10.16% frequency in sounds

/o/ occurs with 40% frequency in names

/o/ is the heroic phoneme

Future Work

Larger survey

Names of the time period

Villainous Phoneme