Cette thèse recueille un grand nombre de recherches effectuées entre les années 1960-1990 en Europe et en Amérique dans le domaine du symbolisme phonétique consistant « en l’attribution d’une signification à un phonème ou un trait distinctif » (Monneret, 2003 : 98). Un enjeu pertinent est représenté par l’instauration de l’état des lieux des recherches phono-symboliques en Union Soviétique. L’approche comparativo-descriptive est accompagnée de l’application de la typologie relative au symbolisme phonétique née lors de la période mentionnée (le symbolisme subjectif versus le symbolisme objectif). Le présent travail scientifique relève les éventuelles causes du blocage des recherches avant 1960 ainsi que celles de l’essor des analyses pendant la période 1960-1990, en se focalisant sur la problématique théorique et la praxis accumulée autour des manifestations phono-symboliques. N’étant plus considéré comme un phénomène marginal, le symbolisme phonétique présenté comme le fait qui prend ses sources du concept de l’iconicité linguistique traitant des relations motivées entre la forme et le contenu et dont l’intérêt croissant se manifestera dans les années quatre-vingt, peut être analysé aujourd’hui à l’aide du concept d’analogie considérée dans les recherches récentes de Monneret (2014). / This thesis collects a relevant number of researches made between years 1960-1990 in Europe and in America in the field of the phonetic symbolism consisting “of the attribution of the meaning in a phoneme or a distinctive feature” (Monneret, 2003: 98; our translation). The important stake is represented by the institution of the current situation of the phono-symbolic researches in Soviet Union. The comparativo-descriptive approach is accompanied with the application of the typology relative to the phonetic symbolism been born during period mentioned (the subjective symbolism versus the objective symbolism). The present scientific work raises the possible causes of the blockage of the researches before 1960 as well as those of the development of analyses during the period 1960-1990, by focusing on the theoretical problem and the praxis accumulated around the phono-symbolic manifestations. No more considered as a marginal phenomenon, the phonetic symbolism presented as the fact that rises in the concept of the linguistic iconicity handling relations motivated between the form and the contents the increasing interest of which will show itself in the eighties, can be analyzed by means of the concept of analogy today considered in the recent researches (Monneret, 2014) as the emergent cognitive phenomenon involving similarity.

Studien genomfördes för att undersöka om associationer mellan utformningen av typsnitt i latinska alfabetet och i japanska skriftsystem och icke-språkliga ljudstimuli. Ytterligare syfte var att undersöka om associationerna påverkas av modersmål och kultur hos respondenter. Teorin som denna studie byggs på inkluderar ljudsymbolismen och BoubaKiki-fenomenet som visar att vissa ljud associeras med vissa former, samt studier om typsnittets personlighet. Två online-enkäter skapades, en engelskspråkig och en japanskspråkig. Enkäterna innehöll samma ljud och samma frågor. 10 typsnitt valdes för latinska alfabetet och 10 för japanska skriftsystem. Ljuden skapades med ett datorprogram och innehöll huvudsakligen toner, rytmer och brus. Respondenterna ombads att lyssna på ett icke-språkligt ljud och sedan välja ett typsnitt från de befintliga svarsalternativen som de upplevde likna ljudet mest. Resultatet visade att det finns ett svagt mönster som kan tyda på att människor associerar snabbare rytm med tunnare typsnitt och långsammare rytm med tyngre typsnitt. Brunt brus associerades starkt med kantiga tunna typsnitt. Toner som förändrades i tonhöjd visade på en svag association med rundare typsnitt. Höga toner associerades med luftiga tunna typsnitt. Det verkar som att japanska och västerländska respondenter inte hade några större skillnader i korssensoriska associationsmönster. Mindre skillnader kunde dock ses, som kan bero på olika faktorer och kan delvis förklaras med sättet studien genomfördes på. / The aim of this study was to investigate associations between typeface design of the Latin alphabet and the Japanese writing system and nonspeech sound stimulus. Moreover, the goal was to study if the associations are influenced by the native language and the culture of a person. Theories that this study was based on included the sound symbolism and the BoubaKiki phenomenon, which shows that certain sounds are associated with certain shapes, and the theory on the typeface personality. Two onlinesurveys were created, one in English and one in Japanese. The surveys were distributed to two groups, the Latin alphabet native users and the Japanese native speakers.  The questions of the surveys were the same and were split in two parts depending on the language of typefaces. 10 typefaces were chosen for the Latin alphabet and 10 for the Japanese writing system. Sound files included tones, rhythms, and the Brownian noise. Respondents were asked to listen to a sound and then choose a typeface that felt “closest” to it. Result shows a somewhat weak pattern that people associate quicker rhythm with thinner typefaces and slower rhythm with heavier typefaces. Brownian noise was strongly associated with angular and thin typefaces. Tones that changed the pitch were somewhat weakly associated with rounder typefaces. High pitched tones were associated with thin and light typefaces. The differences in cross-sensory perception between the Japanese and the western respondents were not major. However, some minor differences could be noticed which might depend on the way the study was conducted or the other factors.

Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit dem großen Oberthema der Ikonizität und ihrer Verbreitung auf verschiedenen linguistischen Ebenen. Ikonizität bezeichnet die Ähnlichkeit zwischen der sprachlichen Form und ihrer Bedeutung (vgl. Perniss und Vigliocco, 2014). So wie eine Skulptur einem Objekt oder einer Person ähnelt, kann auch der Klang oder die Form von Wörtern der Sache ähneln, auf die sie verweisen. Frühere theoretische Ansätze betonen, dass die Arbitrarität von sprachlichen Zeichen und deren Bedeutung ein Hauptmerkmal menschlicher Sprache ist und Ikonizität für die Sprachevolution eine Rolle gespielt haben mag, jedoch in der heutigen Sprache zu vernachlässigen ist. Im Gegensatz dazu ist das Hauptanliegen dieser Arbeit, das Potenzial und die Bedeutung von Ikonizität in der heutigen Sprache zu untersuchen. Die einzelnen Kapitel der Dissertation können als separate Teile betrachtet werden, die in ihrer Gesamtheit das umfassende Spektrum der Ikonizität sichtbar machen. Von der sprachevolutionären Debatte ausgehend wird in den einzelnen Kapiteln auf die unterschiedlichen Ebenen der Ikonizität eingegangen. Es werden experimentelle Untersuchungen zur Lautsymbolik, am Beispiel der deutschen Pokémon-Namen, zur ikonischen Prosodie und zu ikonischen Wörtern, den sogenannten Ideophonen, vorgestellt. Die Ergebnisse der einzelnen Untersuchungen deuten auf die weite Verbreitung der Ikonizität im heutigen Deutsch hin. Darüber hinaus entschlüsselt diese Dissertation das kommunikative Potenzial der Ikonizität als eine Kraft, die nicht nur die Entstehung der Sprache ermöglichte, sondern auch nach Jahrtausenden bestehen bleibt, sich immer wieder neu entfaltet und uns tagtäglich in mündlicher, schriftlicher Form und in Gesten begegnet. / This dissertation is concerned with the major theme of iconicity and its prevalence on different linguistic levels. Iconicity refers to a resemblance between the linguistic form and the meaning of a referent (cf. Perniss and Vigliocco, 2014). Just like a sculpture resembles an object or a model, so can the sound or shape of words resemble the thing they refer to. Previous theoretical approaches emphasize that arbitrariness of the linguistic sign is one of the main features of human language; iconicity, however, may have played a role for language evolution, but is negligible in contemporary language. In contrast, the main point of this thesis is to explore the potential and the importance of iconicity in the language nowadays. The individual chapters of the dissertation can be viewed as separate parts that, taken together, reveal the comprehensive spectrum of iconicity. Starting from the language evolutionary debate, the individual chapters address iconicity on different linguistic levels. I present experimental evidence on sound symbolism, using the example of German Pokémon names, on iconic prosody, and on iconic words, the so-called ideophones. The results of the individual investigations point to the widespread use of iconicity in contemporary German. Moreover, this dissertation deciphers the communicative potential of iconicity as a force that not only enabled the emergence of language, but also persists after millennia, unfolding again and again and encountering us every day in speech, writing, and gestures.

本論文從發音語音學與聲學語音學之觀點研究英語字彙之語音表義現象，其中包括英語中主要五個元音與央元音，二十個輔音，二十九個字首二輔音群，以及六個字首三輔音群。此外也提出語音表義在英語教學上之啟示。首先，語音表義字彙教學配合見字識音法，可以成為形音義三者結合之教學。再者，由於語音表義字彙教學必須透過聯想力建立聲音與意義之間的關聯，因此可以轉被動沈悶之字彙學習為主動活潑之認知歷程，符合認知學習之原則。同時語音表義字彙教學可以訓練學習者之音韻覺識能力，以求在發音、拼字與閱讀方面收長期之效。此外，語音表義字彙教學法可以與其他字彙教學法如「字首字根字尾解字教學法」，或是「上下文語境字彙教學」相輔相成，也同時彌補此兩種教學法不足之處。最後，英語語音學教師若選擇符合語音表義現象之例字，言傳語音特色將會更容易。 本論文完整探討英語中語音表義現象，具有以下幾點貢獻。首先，本文從發音語音學並配合聲學語音學上之佐證完整探討英語語音表義現象，是前所未見的。此外，將語音之歷史發展納入研究考慮因素，認為二輔音群如sc-、sch-、sk-與sh-以及三輔音群scr-與shr-分別具有相同之語音表義現象。而在含有輔音s之輔音群部分，根據Kaye（1992）以及優選理論，本論文將s與後繼語音視為異音節來討論其語音表義現象，亦為本文另一獨特之分析。另外，本論文證明英語中除了擬聲字以外，在聲音與意義之間仍有許多自然之關聯。 / This thesis aims to explore the phenomena of sound symbolism (SS hereafter) in English in terms of articulatory phonetics and acoustic phonetics. The scope of the research covers 5 cardinal vowels, the schwa sounds, 20 single consonants, 29 word-initial two-letter consonant clusters, and 6 word-initial three-letter consonant clusters. Meanwhile, there are some implications on English pedagogy found in the research. First, by providing the association between sound and meaning, SS enriches phonics, which deals with the relationship between spelling and sound, so that spelling, sound and meaning are combined in English vocabulary teaching. Besides, SS turns passive, teacher-centered vocabulary instruction into an active, student-centered one, and this corresponds with the principles of cognitive learning theory. Moreover, the application of SS in teaching English language will help develop learners’ phonological awareness, which improves their pronunciation, spelling and reading abilities. SS at the same time completes other vocabulary teaching methods. Lastly, SS strengthens the instruction of English phonetics in that, if provided with some example words subject to SS phenomena, the features of a sound will be observed and conveyed more easily. Complete in the analysis of SS in English, this thesis pioneers in the following aspects. First of all, this topic is treated in the viewpoint of both articulatory phonetics and acoustic phonetics. Secondly, the historical development of a sound is taken into consideration, and consonant clusters such as sch-、sk- and sh-, therefore, are deemed to have the same sound-meaning relationship with sc- and shr- with scr-. Besides, such s-initial consonant clusters as sl-, sm-, and st- are analyzed in an unprecedented way, some phonological evidences considered. Finally, this thesis proves that there are other non-arbitrary associations between sound and meaning besides onomatopoeic words.

Få studier om ljudsymbolik, d.v.s. kopplingen mellan ords form och betydelse, har baserats på statistisk analys. I denna studie använder vi random forests med måttet permutation variable importance för att utforska vilka fonem (språkljud) som är prevalenta i engelska ord som beskriver hårdhet eller mjukhet. Denna icke-parametriska maskininlärningsmetod har funnits vara användbar för identifiering av ett fåtal inflytelserika förklaringsvariabler i situationer där n < p eller interkorrelationer förekommer. Vårt material och val av metod grundar sig på en tidigare studie, som fann att r-ljud hade starkt samband med betydelsen ‘strävhet’, men som inte kontrollerade för betydelsen ‘hårdhet’ trots att dessa korrelerar med varandra. Vi kontrollerar för dimensionen strävhet-lenhet genom att utföra random forest-analysen på två delmängder: ord som används för att beskriva hårdhet eller mjukhet (n = 81), samt den delmängd av dessa ord som inte beskriver strävhet eller lenhet (n  = 40). Samtliga regressorer är binära variabler, som anger förekomsten eller avsaknaden av varsitt fonem; vi utförde separata analyser på respektive datamängd för att se vilka fonem som hade störst effekt, då man betraktade specifika stavelsekomponenter. Vi fann att r-ljuden hade starkt samband med betydelsen ‘hårdhet’ både före och efter kontrollen för ‘strävhet’. Vi fann även att ljudet med symbolen i (t.ex. sista vokalen i fluffy) hade starkt samband med betydelsen ‘mjukhet’ före och efter kontroll, men vi misstänker att detta egentligen reflekterar sambandet mellan ‘mjukhet’ och exkluderade bakgrundsvariabler. / Few studies about sound symbolism, i.e. the association between the shape and meaning of words, have been based on statistical analysis. In this study, we use random forests and the permutation variable importance measure to explore which phonemes (language sounds) are prevalent in English descriptors of hardness or softness. This non-parametric machine learning method has been found useful for identification of a few influential predictors in situations where n < p or intercorrelations are present. Our materials and choice of method are based on an earlier study, in which a strong association was found between r-sounds and ‘roughness’, but which did not control for the meaning ‘hardness’ despite the correlation between them. We control for the dimension ‘roughness-smoothness’ by performing the random forest-analysis on two subsets of data: descriptors of hardness or softness (n = 81), and descriptors of hardness or softness which are not used to describe roughness or smoothness (n = 40). All regressors are binary variables indicating the presence or absence of a phoneme. Separate analyses were conducted on each subset to see which phonemes had the largest effect when specific syllable compontents were considered. We found that r-sounds had a strong association with ‘hardness’ both before and after controlling for ‘roughness’. We also found that the sound here symbolized by i (e.g. the last vowel of fluffy) had a strong association with ‘softness’ before and after control, but we suspect that this might instead reflect an association between ‘softness’ and excluded variables.