APPROACHES TO THE SOUND OF MEANING AS EMERGES A COGNITIVE LINGUISTIC INVESTIGATION INTO PHONOSEMANTICS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Abstract
The role of connection between phonetics and meanings in Phonosemantics and conveying some counter ides to the traditional view of language as a main system signs. This article discusses the phonosemantic structure of the English language through a cognitive linguistic lens, defining how certain phonemes emerge particular semantic branch or psychological associations. The exploration of sound-symbolic clusters and examination the cognitive mechanisms that may affect to these patterns in focusing on English of the study maps phonosemantic tendencies. Through an analysis of word roots, phonosemantic, and iconic sound-symbolic elements, this study questions the principle of arbitrariness in language and advocates for a more nuanced interpretation of the interplay between sound and meaning in natural linguistic systems.
References
1. de Saussure, F. (1916). Course in General Linguistics.
2. Plato. Cratylus.
3. Sapir, E. (1929). A study in phonetic symbolism. Journal of Experimental Psychology.
4. Whorf, B. L. (1930). Language, thought, and reality.
5. Magnus, M. (1998). What's in a Word? Evidence for Phonosemantics.
6. Ohala, J. J. (1994). The frequency code underlies the sound-symbolic use of voice pitch.
7. Ramachandran, V. S., & Hubbard, E. M. (2001). Synaesthesia. A window into perception, thought, and language. Journal of Consciousness Studies.
8. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By.
9. Pinker, S. (2007). The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature.
10. Nygaard, L. C., Cook, A. E., & Namy, L. L. (2009). Sound to meaning correspondences facilitate word learning. Cognition.
11. Monaghan, P., Christiansen, M. H., & Chater, N. (2007). The phonological-distributional coherence of the vocabulary. Psychological Science.
12. Journals: Language and Speech, Journal of Phonetics, Cognitive Linguistics, Psychological Science.
13. OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT (April 2025 version) Large language model. https://chat.openai.com
