scholarly journals Vowel Length Expands Perceptual and Emotional Evaluations in Written Japanese Sound-Symbolic Words

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 90
Author(s):  
Zihan Lin ◽  
Nan Wang ◽  
Yan Yan ◽  
Toshimune Kambara

In this study, we examined whether vowel length affected the perceptual and emotional evaluations of Japanese sound-symbolic words. The perceptual and emotional features of Japanese sound-symbolic words, which included short and long vowels, were evaluated by 209 native Japanese speakers. The results showed that subjective evaluations of familiarity, visual imageability, auditory imageability, tactile imageability, emotional valence, arousal, and length were significantly higher for sound-symbolic words with long vowels compared to those with short vowels. Additionally, a subjective evaluation of speed was significantly higher for written Japanese sound-symbolic words with short vowels than for those with long vowels. The current findings suggest that vowel length in written Japanese sound-symbolic words increases the perceptually and emotionally subjective evaluations of Japanese sound-symbolic words.

1991 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshinori Sasaki

ABSTRACTIn an experiment based on the competition model, 12 native Japanese speakers (J1 group) and 12 native English speakers studying Japanese (JFL group) were requested to report sentence subjects after listening to Japanese word strings which consisted of one verb and two nouns each. Similarly, 12 native English speakers (E1 group) and 12 native Japanese speakers studying English (EFL group) reported the sentence subjects of English word strings. In each word string, syntactic (word order) cues and lexical-semantic (animacy/inanimacy) cues converged or diverged as to the assignment of the sentence subjects. The results show that JFL-Ss (experimental subjects) closely approximated the response patterns of J1-Ss, while EFL-Ss showed evidence of transfer from their first language, Japanese. The results are consistent with the developmental precedence of a meaning-based comprehension strategy over a grammar-based one.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 167
Author(s):  
Ying Liu ◽  
Wei Deng ◽  
Li Peng

The human–environment relationship is bidirectional, meaning that human attitudes and behavior to nature are at the root of environmental change, while changes in the environment affect human attitudes and behavior. It is necessary to analyze the human–environment relationship from two aspects: (a) Whether there is a good objective basis for maintaining an environment, and (b) whether people report that they are satisfied with that environment. This study attempted to construct a framework to evaluate the human–environment relationship considering these two aspects. The framework consists of three parts: Traditional evaluation, indicator construction, and evaluation considering the relationship between subjective and objective assessment. Traditional evaluations consist of subjective evaluations and objective assessments. Indicator construction focuses on putting forward indicators that quantitively evaluate the human–environment relationship, considering the results of objective assessments and subjective evaluations. The indicators introduced in this study include MD (match degree) and OSC (objective assessment and subjective evaluation comparison) to explain the difference and the relationship between objective assessments and subjective evaluations of the environment. Then, based on the indicator value, a matrix containing four situations (Match-H, Match-L, H-L, and L-H) was constructed to explore why a human–environment relationship may not be harmonious. Since the upper Minjiang River basin is a typical area, because of its intensive human activity, as well as its fragile ecological environment, this study chose it as a case study and used it to verify the framework. Through the framework construction and application, this study found that: (1) The framework of this study provided a more comprehensive method to evaluate the human–environment relationship; (2) as the subjective evaluation was based on individual comprehensive tradeoffs, the evaluation combining the subjective and objective assessment was more accurate; (3) environmental conditions were the basis, and human activities were the key factors, for the coordination of human–environment relationships; so the matrix put forward in this study was necessary for finding the cause of human–environment incongruity.


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