User:Jahsonic/The linguistic sign is not arbitrary  

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The linguistic sign is not arbitrary!

Is the Bouba/kiki effect an instance of a universal language?

I would say yes.

Not only does 95% of the informants assign "kiki" to the angular shape and "bouba" to the curvilinear shape, my own research indicates that when informants are asked which of the two shapes is the 'smart' one and which is the 'dumb' one, "kiki" is usually designated as the smart one (remember, sharp in English also means intelligent) and "bouba" the dumb one (likewise, dull means not intelligent).

This means that shapes can be connected both to sounds and to affects.

These findings have implications for the evolution of language, because it suggests that the naming of objects is not completely arbitrary, as French linguist de Saussure in his canonical Course in General Linguistics (1916) stated.

I was surprised not to see the Bouba/kiki effect in The Search for the Perfect Language (The Making of Europe) by Umberto Eco.




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