The sound symbolism bootstrapping hypothesis for language acquisition and language evolution

Sound symbolism is a non-arbitrary relationship between speech sounds and meaning. We review evidence that, contrary to the traditional view in linguistics, sound symbolism is an important design feature of language, which affects online processing of language, and most importantly, language acquisition. We propose the sound symbolism bootstrapping hypothesis, claiming that (i) pre-verbal infants are sensitive to sound symbolism, due to a biologically endowed ability to map and integrate multi-modal input, (ii) sound symbolism helps infants gain referential insight for speech sounds, (iii) sound symbolism helps infants and toddlers associate speech sounds with their referents to establish a lexical representation and (iv) sound symbolism helps toddlers learn words by allowing them to focus on referents embedded in a complex scene, alleviating Quine''s problem. We further explore the possibility that sound symbolism is deeply related to language evolution, drawing the parallel between historical development of language across generations and ontogenetic development within individuals. Finally, we suggest that sound symbolism bootstrapping is a part of a more general phenomenon of bootstrapping by means of iconic representations, drawing on similarities and close behavioural links between sound symbolism and speech-accompanying iconic gesture.     

The Politics Of Resemblance: Ethnicity, Trademarks, Head-Hunting

This article questions the assumption that shared culture, or affiliation to shared cultural symbols, is necessarily a source of social cohesion, and that ethnic divisions are associated specifically with perceptions or attributions of difference. I argue that shared cultural symbolism can give rise to competition over its ownership or use, and that this competition can play an important role in defining ethnic boundaries, by creating what might be called relationships of conflictual resemblance between the two sides. Such conflicts are analogous in a number of respects to disputes over the ownership and use of commercial trademarks, and reveal the same underlying conceptions of 'proprietary' identity.     

Sustenance,nourishment, and cultivation: plants as living cultural heritage for dispersed Chagossians in Mauritius,Seychelles, and the UK

Applying a critical heritage studies approach to plants, this article explores how plant knowledge and use, plant exchange, and plant symbolism and materiality feature in the social life of the dispersed Chagossian community in Mauritius, Seychelles, and the UK. First, plant use helps to sustain collective knowledge in new environmental conditions and social settings. Second, plant exchange nourishes kinship and other social relationships within the extended community. Third, plant symbolism and materiality cultivate nostalgic links to idealized homelands in the context of community dispersal. Nevertheless, the capacity of plants to contribute to these social processes is limited by challenges to intergenerational knowledge transmission across time and space, and by environmental, financial, and regulatory constraints on plant migration. The article argues that for the displaced Chagossian community, plants are living cultural heritage with social potential (albeit constrained) in the context of dislocation and loss, ongoing suffering, and geographical dispersal.     

Sound Symbolism Facilitates Word Learning in 14-Month-Olds

Sound symbolism, or the nonarbitrary link between linguistic sound and meaning, has often been discussed in connection with language evolution, where the oral imitation of external events links phonetic forms with their referents (e.g., Ramachandran & Hubbard, 2001). In this research, we explore whether sound symbolism may also facilitate synchronic language learning in human infants. Sound symbolism may be a useful cue particularly at the earliest developmental stages of word learning, because it potentially provides a way of bootstrapping word meaning from perceptual information. Using an associative word learning paradigm, we demonstrated that 14-month-old infants could detect Köhler-type (1947) shape-sound symbolism, and could use this sensitivity in their effort to establish a word-referent association.     

How Sound Symbolism Is Processed in the Brain: A Study on Japanese Mimetic Words

Sound symbolism is the systematic and non-arbitrary link between word and meaning. Although a number of behavioral studies demonstrate that both children and adults are universally sensitive to sound symbolism in mimetic words, the neural mechanisms underlying this phenomenon have not yet been extensively investigated. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate how Japanese mimetic words are processed in the brain. In Experiment 1, we compared processing for motion mimetic words with that for non-sound symbolic motion verbs and adverbs. Mimetic words uniquely activated the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS). In Experiment 2, we further examined the generalizability of the findings from Experiment 1 by testing another domain: shape mimetics. Our results show that the right posterior STS was active when subjects processed both motion and shape mimetic words, thus suggesting that this area may be the primary structure for processing sound symbolism. Increased activity in the right posterior STS may also reflect how sound symbolic words function as both linguistic and non-linguistic iconic symbols.     

Ecological Imagery and Cultural Adaptability: The Canelos Quichua of Eastern Ecuador

Ecological imagery among the Upper Amazonian Canelos Quichua native peoples of eastern Ecuador provides a paradigmatic, symbolic template organized by sets of cosmological premises. This template, anchored by traditional shamanism and ceramic manufacture, is invoked in emotionally charged ceremonial and juropolitical contexts to express resistance to normative culture bearers who have a potential or real impact on the ecosystem and indigenous political economy. The imagery is described as it exists within a system of radical change. Mechanisms are discussed whereby ecosystem knowledge and social structure are systemically linked to cosmological premises within a dynamic system of indigenous cultural adaptability . [Ecuador, symbolism of Canelos Quichua, Amazonian cosmology, cultural adaptability, ecological imagery]     

Symbolism in prehistoric man

The aptitude for symbolization, characteristic of man, is revealed not only in artistic representations and funerary practices. It is exhibited by every manifestation of human activity or representation of natural phenomena that assumes or refers to a meaning. We can recognize functional symbolism (tool-making, habitative or food technology), social symbolism, (language and social communication) and spiritual symbolism (funerary practices and artistic expressions). On the basis of these concepts, research into symbolism in prehistoric man allows us to recognize forms of symbolism already in the manifestations of the most ancient humans, starting with Homo habilis (or rudolfensis). Toolmaking, social organization and organization of the territory are oriented toward survival and the life of the family group. They attest to symbolic behaviors and constitute symbolic systems by means of which man expresses himself, lives and transmits his symbolic world. The diverse forms of symbolism are discussed with reference to the different phases of prehistoric humanity.     

Sex-Biased Sound Symbolism in English-Language First Names

Sexual selection has resulted in sex-based size dimorphism in many mammals, including humans. In Western societies, average to taller stature men and comparatively shorter, slimmer women have higher reproductive success and are typically considered more attractive. This size dimorphism also extends to vocalisations in many species, again including humans, with larger individuals exhibiting lower formant frequencies than smaller individuals. Further, across many languages there are associations between phonemes and the expression of size (e.g. large /a, o/, small /i, e/), consistent with the frequency-size relationship in vocalisations. We suggest that naming preferences are a product of this frequency-size relationship, driving male names to sound larger and female names smaller, through sound symbolism. In a 10-year dataset of the most popular British, Australian and American names we show that male names are significantly more likely to contain larger sounding phonemes (e.g. “Thomas”), while female names are significantly more likely to contain smaller phonemes (e.g. “Emily”). The desire of parents to have comparatively larger, more masculine sons, and smaller, more feminine daughters, and the increased social success that accompanies more sex-stereotyped names, is likely to be driving English-language first names to exploit sound symbolism of size in line with sexual body size dimorphism.     

‘Like Playing a Game Where You Don't Know the Rules’: Investing Meaning in Intercultural Cash Transactions Between Tourists and Trobriand Islanders

ABSTRACT

When tourists visit cultural tourism destinations, the primary form of interaction between visitors and local residents is in the exchange of money for material objects and performances. While purchase of cultural commodities in tourism contexts may appear to be simple market transactions, they are often in fact morally fraught sites of ambiguous interaction, invested with disparate meanings by different participants. Drawing on Bloch and Parry's (1989 Bloch, Maurice. 1989. The symbolism of money in Imerina. In Money and the Morality of Exchange, edited by J. Parry & M. Bloch. pp. 165–190. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Google Scholar]) analysis of the symbolism of money and its relationship to culturally constructed ideas about production, consumption, circulation, and exchange, this article examines the conflicting and contested views of cash transactions and other types of exchange in meetings between tourists and Trobriand Islanders in Papua New Guinea. I argue that intercultural exchange in tourism is not necessarily a straightforward commodity exchange, but evokes social relations that are often quite differently conceptualized by the producers and consumers of touristic products.     

Frequency discrimination by the bottle-nosed dolphin and the Northern fur seal depending on sound parameters and sound conduction pathways

Underwater differential frequency hearing thresholds in the Black Sea bottle-nosed dolphin (Tursiops truncatus p.) and the northern fur seal (Callorhinus ursinus) were measured depending on signal frequency and sound conduction pathways. The measurements were performed by the method of instrumental conditioned reflexes with food reinforcement under conditions of full and partial (with heads out of water at sound conduction through body tissues) submergence of animals into water. It was shown that in a frequency range of 5-100 kHz, underwater differential frequency hearing thresholds of the bottle-nosed dolphin changed from 0.46-0.60% to 0.21-0.34% and depended little on sound conduction pathways. The minimum underwater differential frequency hearing thresholds of the northern fur seal corresponded to the frequencies of maximum hearing sensitivity, changed from 1.7% to 1-2.3% in a frequency range of 1-20 kHz, sharply increased at the edges of the frequency hearing perception range, and depended little (in a range of 5-40 kHz) on sound conduction pathways. Thus, underwater sounds propagating through the body tissues of dolphin and fur seal reach the inner ear.     

Urban noise pollution

Noise is responsible for cochlear and general damages. Hearing loss and tinnitus greatly depend on sound intensity and duration. Short-duration sound of sufficient intensity (gunshot or explosion) will not be described because they are not currently encountered in our normal urban environment. Sound levels of less than 75 d (A) are unlikely to cause permanent hearing loss, while sound levels of about 85 d (A) with exposures of 8 h per day will produce permanent hearing loss after many years. Popular and largely amplified music is today one of the most dangerous causes of noise induced hearing loss. The intensity of noises (airport, highway) responsible for stress and general consequences (cardiovascular) is generally lower. Individual noise sensibility depends on several factors. Strategies to prevent damage from sound exposure should include the use of individual hearing protection devices, education programs beginning with school-age children, consumer guidance, increased product noise labelling, and hearing conservation programs for occupational settings.     

Hair cell synaptic dysfunction,auditory fatigue and thermal sensitivity in otoferlin Ile515Thr mutants

The multi‐C₂ domain protein otoferlin is required for hearing and mutated in human deafness. Some OTOF mutations cause a mild elevation of auditory thresholds but strong impairment of speech perception. At elevated body temperature, hearing is lost. Mice homozygous for one of these mutations, Otof^I515T/I515T, exhibit a moderate hearing impairment involving enhanced adaptation to continuous or repetitive sound stimulation. In Otof^I515T/I515T inner hair cells (IHCs), otoferlin levels are diminished by 65%, and synaptic vesicles are enlarged. Exocytosis during prolonged stimulation is strongly reduced. This indicates that otoferlin is critical for the reformation of properly sized and fusion‐competent synaptic vesicles. Moreover, we found sustained exocytosis and sound encoding to scale with the amount of otoferlin at the plasma membrane. We identified a 20 amino acid motif including an RXR motif, presumably present in human but not in mouse otoferlin, which reduces the plasma membrane abundance of Ile515Thr‐otoferlin. Together, this likely explains the auditory synaptopathy at normal temperature and the temperature‐sensitive deafness in humans carrying the Ile515Thr mutation.     

The hearing of the Atlantic Salmon, Salmo salar

The hearing of the salmon, Salmo salar L., was studied by means of a cardiac conditioning technique. Fish were trained to show a slowing of the heart, on hearing a sound, in anticipation of a mild electric shock applied later. The minimum sound level to which the fish would respond was determined for a range of pure tones, both in the sea, and in the laboratory. The fish responded only to low frequency tones (below 380 Hz), and particle motion, rather than sound pressure, proved to be the relevant stimulus. The sensitivity of the fish to sound was not affected by the level of sea noise under natural conditions but hearing is likely to be masked by ambient noise in a turbulent river. Sound measurements made in the River Dee, near Aberdeen, lead to the conclusion that salmon are unlikely to detect sounds originating in air, but that they are sensitive to substrate borne sounds. Compared with the carp and cod the hearing of the salmon is poor, and more like that of the perch and plaice.     

The conduction of tonal and compound sounds through the body of a bottlenose dolphin

The peculiarities of underwater sound conduction through the body of the Black Sea bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus p.) were investigated to elucidate the mechanisms of acoustic orientation of marine mammals. By using the method of instrumental conditioned reflexes with food reinforcement, underwater hearing thresholds in the bottlenose dolphin depending on signal parameters (tonal pulses and various noises) and sound conduction pathways were measured under conditions of full and partial (with the head out of water and sound being conducted through the body tissues) submergence of the animal into water. The underwater hearing thresholds increased by 6-27 dB upon sound conduction through the body tissues (to the least extent for tonal pulses of 10 and 20 kHz). The hearing thresholds for tonal pulses and narrow-band noises were very similar both under conditions of full and partial submergence of the animal into water.     

Exposing Silence as Cultural Censorship: A Brazilian Case

In this article I assert that in focusing on salient discourses, contested cultural domains, and public forms of conflict and power, cultural and linguistic anthropologists, and other social scientists, have overlooked the significance of communal forms of silence in shaping the social and political landscape. I argue that such customary silences constitute "cultural censorship," which, unlike state-sponsored censorship, is practiced in the absence of explicit coercion or enforcement. Although practiced by different and opposed groups, cultural censorship tends to be constituted through, and circumscribed by. the political interests of dominant groups. In this article, which is based on ethnographic research in Rio de Janeiro. I analyze a case of cultural censorship by examining the customary silence surrounding the subject of racism in Brazil. By emphasizing the phenomenology of cultural censorship among poor Brazilians of African descent. 1 argue that silence must not be conflated with, and does not preclude the existence of. non-hegemonic consciousness, [silence, cultural censorship, consciousness, Brazil, racism]     

Weber's law and perceptual categories: Another teleological view

As an alternative to optimum-processor models in which sensors attempt to circumvent internal and external noise, a mechanism-independent argument is presented for Weber's law in vision and hearing. In vision, the argument is that categories of objects should be independent of the light intensity on these objects. In hearing, sound categorization should be independent of the distance from the sound source. An analogous desideratum for computer-based image segmentation is also presented.     

听觉中枢神经元对声信号的识别和处理

人类听觉的基本特性和机制与其他哺乳动物相似,因此,利用动物所作的听觉研究和获得的结果,有助于认识人类自身的听觉.围绕听觉中枢神经元对不同模式的声信号的识别和处理,简要综述了这方面的研究.声信号和声模式识别在听觉中枢对声信号的感受和加工中具有重要意义.听神经元作为声模式识别的结构和功能基础,对不同的声刺激模式产生不同反应,甚至是在同一声刺激模式下,改变其中的某个声参数,神经元的反应也会发生相应改变,而其反应的特性和机制均需要更多研究来解答.另外,声信号作为声信息的载体,不同的声信息寓于不同的声参数和声特征之中,研究发现,听觉中枢神经元存在相应的声信息甄别和选择的神经基础,能对动态变化的声频率、幅度和时程等进行反应和编码,并且,在不同种类动物上获得的研究结果极为相似,表明听觉中枢对不同声信号和声刺激模式的识别、分析和加工,具有共同性和普遍性.     

Comic Antiphony in Satirical Performance: The ‘Trata’ of Skyrian Carnival

In this paper, I examine carnival and, in particular, satire within carnival on the island of Skyros, in the north-west Aegean, Greece. I focus on the nature of the soundscape created by music and sound in carnival, to elucidate how Skyrians culturally construct ‘noise’ as meaningful voice and interaction. Analytically, I apply the concept of antiphony, that is, a musical mode of ‘call and response’, to explore the reproduction of cultural meaning in satirical performance. Specific attention is drawn to the satirical verses recited during two separate performances in the 1995 carnival. I explore the conditions of how and why the antiphonal response embedded in the Skyrian discursive repertoire created not only new comic dialogue but an entirely different performance. Even beyond Skyrian carnival, antiphonal form can become an active and innovative involvement in the re-creation of a meaningful framework of cultural dynamics.     

The inner ear morphology and hearing abilities of the Paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) and the Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens)

Concern regarding the spread of silver carp (Hypopthalmichthys molitrix) and bighead carp (Aristichthysc nobilis) through the Illinois River has prompted the development of an Acoustic Fish Deterrent (AFD) system. The application of this technology has resulted in a need to understand the auditory physiology of fish other than the target species, in order to minimise the effect of the AFD barrier on the ecology of indigenous fish populations. To this end, both the structures involved in sound reception and the hearing abilities of the paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) and the lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) are studied here using a combination of morphological and physiological approaches, revealing that both fish are responsive to sounds ranging in frequency from 100 to 500 Hz. The lowest hearing thresholds from both species were acquired from frequencies in a bandwidth of between 200 and 300 Hz, with higher thresholds at 100 and 500 Hz. The rationale for studying hearing in P. spathula and A. fulvescens in particular, is the value placed on them by both the commercial caviar producing industry and by the recreational fisheries sector. The hearing abilities of twelve P. spathula and twelve A. fulvescens were tested in sound fields dominated by either sound pressure or particle motion, with the results showing that acipenseriform fish are responsive to the motion of water particles in a sound field, rather than the sound pressure component. In this study, we measure the intensity of the sound field required to evoke threshold responses using a pressure sensitive hydrophone, as pressure dominated sound fields are the most audible acoustic condition for specialists like H. molitrix and A. nobilis (the target species). The results of the auditory examination clearly show that P. spathula and A. fulvescens are not sensitive to sound pressure, and will therefore have a significantly higher deterrent threshold than H. molitrix and A. nobilis in a pressure dominated sound field.     

Acoustic communication in two freshwater gobies: the relationship between ambient noise,hearing thresholds and sound spectrum

Two freshwater gobies Padogobius martensii and Gobius nigricans live in shallow (5-70 cm) stony streams, and males of both species produce courtship sounds. A previous study demonstrated high noise levels near waterfalls, a quiet window in the noise around 100 Hz at noisy locations, and extremely short-range propagation of noise and goby signals. To investigate the relationship of this acoustic environment to communication, we determined audiograms for both species and measured parameters of courtship sounds produced in the streams. We also deflated the swimbladder in P. martensii to determine its effect on frequency utilization in sound production and hearing. Both species are maximally sensitive at 100 Hz and produce low-frequency sounds with main energy from 70 to 100-150 Hz. Swimbladder deflation does not affect auditory threshold or dominant frequency of courtship sounds and has no or minor effects on sound amplitude. Therefore, both species utilize frequencies for hearing and sound production that fall within the low-frequency quiet region, and the equivalent relationship between auditory sensitivity and maximum ambient noise levels in both species further suggests that ambient noise shapes hearing sensitivity.