The sound of a word like “knife” or “truck” seems totally arbitrary–it’s just a random sound we’ve assigned to a thing, right? But for several decades, scientists have found good evidence that the ...

A field of linguistics, not without its skeptics, known as sound symbolism, posits that certain sounds have certain meanings, and that these sounds trigger imagery that is consistent and meaningful.

Smoother-sounding names like Liam or Noelle were judged as more agreeable and emotional, while spikier-sounding names like Tate or Krista were judged as more extroverted. OTTAWA: Imagine you're hiring ...

David Sidhu receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Penny Pexman ...

It may also be a stool, a beanbag or a throne, which makes it hard to relate sounds with physical features. The truth is it’s not clear how much sound symbolism does exist in spoken language, Ackerman ...

During the pandemic, many of us have felt our stress levels rise every time we hear the word “virus”. But few people realise that just the sound of the word virus alone is likely to raise the blood ...