Hacker News Reader

For the bouba and kiki example, maybe the reason we associate shapes with sounds is because we already have words in our vocabulary that are associated with similar shapes?

For example, bouba is similar to bubble, which has no sharp edges. Kiki is similar to cut.

It'd be more interesting if you found similar associations in people who speak a completely different language with different origins.

View on HN

If I were to graph myself speaking those two words I expect I would have two spikes on the k's of kiki, but bouba would be generally flatter.

We probably have abstractions, connotations, that these sounds share with the physical ideas of sharpness and soft-formed-ness (what word am I looking for). Then, we likely choose our words against these abstract connotations.

That's what I guess before I would look at your explanation as right.

I believe the real astonishing observation from the experience IS the worldwide pairing of the shapes with the names, regardless of language.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com