Sound symbolism scaffolds language development in preverbal infants.

A fundamental question in language development is how infants start to assign meaning to words. Here, using three Electroencephalogram (EEG)-based measures of brain activity, we establish that preverbal 11-month-old infants are sensitive to the non-arbitrary correspondences between language sounds and concepts, that is, to sound symbolism. In each trial, infant participants were presented with a visual stimulus (e.g., a round shape) followed by a novel spoken word that either sound-symbolically matched ("moma") or mismatched ("kipi") the shape. Amplitude increase in the gamma band showed perceptual integration of visual and auditory stimuli in the match condition within 300 msec of word onset. Furthermore, phase synchronization between electrodes at around 400 msec revealed intensified large-scale, left-hemispheric communication between brain regions in the mismatch condition as compared to the match condition, indicating heightened processing effort when integration was more demanding. Finally, event-related brain potentials showed an increased adult-like N400 response - an index of semantic integration difficulty - in the mismatch as compared to the match condition. Together, these findings suggest that 11-month-old infants spontaneously map auditory language onto visual experience by recruiting a cross-modal perceptual processing system and a nascent semantic network within the first year of life.

• Publication year

  2015

• Venue

  Cortex; a journal devoted to the study of the nervous system and behavior

• Publication date

  2015-02-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Psychology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.cortex.2014.08.025PMID 25282057
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Sound Symbolism Facilitates Word Learning in 14-Month-Olds

  2015cited by this paper
• The sound symbolism bootstrapping hypothesis for language acquisition and language evolution

  2014cited by this paper
• Sound symbolism in infancy: evidence for sound-shape cross-modal correspondences in 4-month-olds.

  2013cited by this paper
• The facilitatory role of sound symbolism in infant word learning

  2013cited by this paper
• Electrophysiological Evidence for the Understanding of Maternal Speech by 9-Month-Old Infants

  2012cited by this paper
• At 6–9 months, human infants know the meanings of many common nouns

  2012cited by this paper
• Japanese Sound-Symbolism Facilitates Word Learning in English-Speaking Children

  2011cited by this paper
• Thirty years and counting: finding meaning in the N400 component of the event-related brain potential (ERP).

  2011influential reference
• Word Learning in 6-Month-Olds: Fast Encoding–Weak Retention

  2011cited by this paper
• The Role of Audiovisual Processing in Early Conceptual Development

  2011cited by this paper
• Preverbal Infants’ Sensitivity to Synaesthetic Cross-Modality Correspondences

  2010cited by this paper
• Invariance detection within an interactive system: a perceptual gateway to language development.

  2010cited by this paper
• Neural synchrony and the development of cortical networks.

  2010cited by this paper
• Dynamic links between theta executive functions and alpha storage buffers in auditory and visual working memory

  2010cited by this paper
• The development of neural synchrony reflects late maturation and restructuring of functional networks in humans

  2009cited by this paper
• Sound symbolism facilitates early verb learning.

  2008cited by this paper
• Productive Vocabulary Size Predicts Event-related Potential Correlates of Fast Mapping in 20-Month-Olds

  2008cited by this paper
• Crossmodal binding through neural coherence: implications for multisensory processing.

  2008cited by this paper
• Enhanced EEG gamma-band activity reflects multisensory semantic matching in visual-to-auditory object priming

  2008influential reference
• Synchronization of Neural Activity across Cortical Areas Correlates with Conscious Perception

  2007cited by this paper
• Noise-induced large-scale phase synchronization of human-brain activity associated with behavioural stochastic resonance

  2007cited by this paper
• Gamma and beta neural activity evoked during a sensory gating paradigm: effects of auditory, somatosensory and cross-modal stimulation.

  2006cited by this paper
• The shape of boubas: sound-shape correspondences in toddlers and adults.

  2006influential reference
• A mechanism for cognitive dynamics: neuronal communication through neuronal coherence.

  2005cited by this paper
• The use of event related potentials in the study of early cognitive development

  2005cited by this paper
• Lexical priming and semantic integration reflected in the event-related potential of 14-month-olds

  2005cited by this paper
• Cognitive functions of gamma-band activity: memory match and utilization.

  2004cited by this paper
• Synchronous neural oscillations and cognitive processes.

  2003cited by this paper
• Early Word Learners' Ability to Access Phonetic Detail in Well-Known Words

  2003cited by this paper
• Temporal binding and the neural correlates of sensory awareness.

  2001cited by this paper
• Synaesthesia? A window into perception, thought and language

  2001cited by this paper
• The brainweb: Phase synchronization and large-scale integration

  2001cited by this paper
• Studying Single-Trials of phase Synchronous Activity in the Brain

  2000influential reference
• Gamma oscillations and object processing in the infant brain.

  2000cited by this paper
• Perception's shadow: long-distance synchronization of human brain activity

  1999influential reference
• Synchronization between temporal and parietal cortex during multimodal object processing in man.

  1999cited by this paper
• Language dominance in neurologically normal and epilepsy subjects: a functional MRI study.

  1999cited by this paper
• Acquisition of word-object associations by 14-month-old infants.

  1998cited by this paper
• Infants listen for more phonetic detail in speech perception than in word-learning tasks

  1997cited by this paper
• Stimulus Specificity of Phase-Locked and Non-Phase-Locked 40 Hz Visual Responses in Human

  1996cited by this paper
• Controlling the false discovery rate: a practical and powerful approach to multiple testing

  1995cited by this paper
• Large‐scale neurocognitive networks and distributed processing for attention, language, and memory

  1990cited by this paper

• Electrophysiological evidence of infants' understanding of verbs.

  2026cites this paper
• The priming of visual picture cues on onomatopoeic processing of reduced-hearing students: An empirical study.

  2025cites this paper
• Four Trials Is Not Enough: The Amount of Prior Audio–Visual Exposure Determines the Strength of Audio–Tactile Crossmodal Correspondence Early in Development

  2025cites this paper
• Dogs as a model to study the emergence of concept manipulation skills for language-readiness

  2025cites this paper
• Exploring Quantum Heider Balance Theory

  2025cites this paper
• Acoustic parameter combinations underlying mapping of pseudoword sounds to multiple domains of meaning: Representational similarity analyses and machine-learning models.

  2025cites this paper
• The Acquisition of Japanese Sound‐Symbolic Words by Chinese JFL (Japanese as a Foreign Language) Learners

  2025cites this paper
• Does sound symbolism need sound?: The role of articulatory movement in detecting iconicity between sound and meaninga).

  2025cites this paper
• Cracking arbitrariness: A data-driven study of auditory iconicity in spoken English

  2025cites this paper
• Processing of onomatopoeia by hearing-reduced students in sentence context: a study based on ERPs

  2025cites this paper
• What do pseudowords tell us about word processing? An overview

  2025cites this paper
• Size Sound Symbolism Modulates Linguistic Processing: An ERP Study

  2025influential citation
• Shared and Distinct Phonemic Features in Sound-Shape and Sound-Size Correspondences: A Study of Mandarin Chinese

  2025cites this paper
• Shape and word parts combine linearly in the Bouba–Kiki effect

  2025cites this paper
• Developing Associations to the Sounds of a Name

  2025cites this paper
• The role of pitch accent in lexical recognition in Japanese: evidence from event-related potential and gamma-band activity

  2025cites this paper
• Size sound symbolism in mothers' speech to their infants.

  2024cites this paper
• Gamma oscillations and auditory perception: A cluster-based statistic investigation in infants at higher likelihood of autism and developmental language disorder.

  2024cites this paper
• Crossmodal correspondences between visual and speech angularity and tactile jaggedness of response key

  2024cites this paper
• Acoustic parameter combinations underlying mapping of pseudoword sounds to multiple domains of meaning: representational similarity analyses and machine-learning models

  2024cites this paper
• The role of audiovisual congruence in aesthetic appreciation of contemporary music and visual art

  2024cites this paper
• Do 14-17-month-old infants use iconic speech and gesture cues to interpret word meanings?a).

  2024cites this paper
• Language-Specific Sound-Shape Matching at 12-Months of Age

  2024influential citation
• Brain responses to a lab-evolved artificial language with space-time metaphors.

  2024cites this paper
• Prior visual experience increases children's use of effective haptic exploration strategies in audio-tactile sound-shape correspondences.

  2024cites this paper
• Crossmodal associations between naturally occurring tactile and sound textures

  2024cites this paper
• Tactile dimensions of fabrics expressed by Japanese onomatopoeic words and phonemic features related to fabric luxuriousness and pleasantness

  2023cites this paper
• The maluma/takete effect is late: No longitudinal evidence for shape sound symbolism in the first year

  2023influential citation
• Cognitive neural responses in the semantic comprehension of sound symbolic words and pseudowords

  2023cites this paper
• The role of systematicity in early referent selection.

  2023cites this paper
• For the final version see Sensory Individuals : Unimodal and Multimodal Perspectives

  2023cites this paper
• The Iconicity Ring Hypothesis Bridges the Gap Between Symbol Grounding and Linguistic Relativity

  2023cites this paper
• Touch to learn: Multisensory input supports word learning and processing

  2023cites this paper
• Ting, tang, tong: Emergent bilingual students investigating and constructing evidence‐based explanations about sound production

  2023cites this paper
• Семантика звуку в поетичному оригіналі й перекладі

  2023cites this paper
• Neural Indicators of Visual Andauditory Recognition of Imitative Words on Different De-Iconization Stages

  2023cites this paper
• ERPs reveal an iconic relation between sublexical phonology and affective meaning.

  2022cites this paper
• From woof woof to dog: Interactions between parents' use of sound symbolic words and infants' vocabulary development.

  2022cites this paper
• Bo-NO-bouba-kiki: picture-word mapping but no spontaneous sound symbolic speech-shape mapping in a language trained bonobo

  2022cites this paper
• Event-Related Potentials to Speech Relate to Speech Sound Production and Language in Young Children

  2022cites this paper
• The Bouba–Kiki effect is predicted by sound properties but not speech properties

  2022cites this paper
• A Cross‐Modal and Cross‐lingual Study of Iconicity in Language: Insights From Deep Learning

  2022cites this paper
• I don’t see what you’re saying: The maluma/takete effect does not depend on the visual appearance of phonemes as they are articulated

  2022cites this paper
• What’s in a Japanese kawaii ‘cute’ name? A linguistic perspective

  2022cites this paper
• Infants' Use of Iconicity in the Early Periods of Sign/Spoken Word-Learning.

  2022cites this paper
• Palatal is for happiness, plosive is for sadness: evidence for stochastic relationships between phoneme classes and sentiment polarity in Hungarian

  2022cites this paper
• Seeing Sounds: The Role of Vowels and Consonants in Crossmodal Correspondences

  2022cites this paper
• Phonation Types Matter in Sound Symbolism

  2021cites this paper
• The feeling of "kiki": Comparing developmental changes in sound-shape correspondence for audio-visual and audio-tactile stimuli.

  2021cites this paper
• Exploring the nature of cumulativity in sound symbolism: Experimental studies of Pokémonastics with English speakers

  2021cites this paper
• English Speakers Can Infer Pokémon Types Based on Sound Symbolism

  2021cites this paper
• Sound-Symbolic Semantics of Written Japanese Vowels in a Paper-Based Survey Study

  2021cites this paper
• Brain networks underlying the processing of sound symbolism related to softness perception

  2021cites this paper
• Sound symbolism shapes the English language: The maluma/takete effect in English nouns

  2021cites this paper
• Toward human-centered visual design based on sound symbolic information

  2021cites this paper
• How Deeply are Emotions Encoded in Language Communication and is This Detectable in Text

  2021cites this paper
• STDP Based Unsupervised Multimodal Learning With Cross-Modal Processing in Spiking Neural Networks

  2021cites this paper
• University of Birmingham Size sound symbolism in the English lexicon

  2021cites this paper
• On the revealing the emotional valence in communication by text

  2021cites this paper
• The bouba/kiki effect is robust across cultures and writing systems

  2021cites this paper
• Size sound symbolism in the English lexicon

  2021cites this paper
• Examining the Effect of Adverbs and Onomatopoeia on Physical Movement

  2021cites this paper
• When dogs meow: An electrophysiological study of lexical-semantic processing in toddlers.

  2021cites this paper
• Phonovisual Biases in Language: is the Lexicon Tied to the Visual World?

  2021cites this paper
• Iconicity and Second Language Visual Perception: A Psycholinguistic Study of English Imitative Words at Different De-iconization Stages

  2021cites this paper
• Development of the N400 for Word Learning in the First 2 Years of Life: A Systematic Review

  2021cites this paper
• An investigation of iconic language development in four datasets

  2021cites this paper
• Vowel Length Expands Perceptual and Emotional Evaluations in Written Japanese Sound-Symbolic Words

  2021cites this paper
• Iconicity emerges and is maintained in spoken language.

  2021cites this paper
• Visual and Proprioceptive Perceptions Evoke Motion-Sound Symbolism: Different Acceleration Profiles Are Associated With Different Types of Consonants

  2020cites this paper
• Tactile perception of skin: research on late positive component of event-related potentials evoked by friction

  2020cites this paper
• Tasting names: Systematic investigations of taste-speech sounds associations

  2020cites this paper
• Functional Brain Connectivity of Language Functions in Children Revealed by EEG and MEG: A Systematic Review

  2020cites this paper
• Referential iconicity in music and speech

  2020cites this paper
• Sound symbolism and theoretical phonology

  2020influential citation
• The Margins of the Language Network in the Brain

  2020cites this paper
• Semantics Based on the Physical Characteristics of Facial Expressions Used to Produce Japanese Vowels

  2020cites this paper
• A four-stage model for language evolution under the effects of human self-domestication

  2020cites this paper
• Brain-inspired self-organization with cellular neuromorphic computing for multimodal unsupervised learning

  2020cites this paper
• The Bouba–Kiki Effect in Persons with Prelingual Auditory Deprivation

  2020cites this paper
• Meaning before grammar: A review of ERP experiments on the neurodevelopmental origins of semantic processing

  2020cites this paper
• Sound Symbolism in Marketing: An Integrative Review of Marketing Studies into Sound Symbolism

  2020cites this paper
• Effects of pitch of short pure tones on onomatopoeic expressions: A cross-linguistic study of Japanese and Chinese

  2020cites this paper
• Sound symbolism is modulated by linguistic experience

  2020cites this paper
• Global shape perception contributes to crossmodal correspondences.

  2020cites this paper
• Insights from infancy

  2019cites this paper
• What makes a shape "baba"? The shape features prioritized in sound-shape correspondence change with development.

  2019cites this paper
• Sound Symbolism Facilitates Long-Term Retention of the Semantic Representation of Novel Verbs in Three-Year-Olds

  2019cites this paper
• Brain Activity Related to Sound Symbolism: Cross-modal Effect of an Aurally Presented Phoneme on Judgment of Size

  2019cites this paper
• Rhyme over Reason

  2019cites this paper
• Phonological Motivation for the Acquisition of Onomatopoeia: An Analysis of Early Words

  2019cites this paper
• Possible Cognitive Mechanisms for Identifying Visually-presented Sound-Symbolic Words

  2019cites this paper
• Semantic Associations Dominate Over Perceptual Associations in Vowel–Size Iconicity

  2019cites this paper
• Does the name say it all? Investigating phoneme-personality sound symbolism in first names.

  2019cites this paper
• Haptic sound-symbolism in young Spanish-speaking children

  2019cites this paper
• Sound symbolism processing is lateralized to the right temporal region in the prelinguistic infant brain

  2019cites this paper
• How alliteration enhances conceptual-attentional interactions in reading.

  2019cites this paper
• Phonetic Symbolism

  2019cites this paper
• Is un stylo sharper than une épée? Investigating the interaction of sound symbolism and grammatical gender in English and French speakers

  2019cites this paper
• Experimental approaches to iconicity: Operationalizing form-meaning resemblances in language

  2019cites this paper