الكَلِم
Volume 6, Numéro 1, Pages 676-695
2021-06-01

Sound Symbolism In Color Modality: Case Of Arabic Speaking Children At Guiri Brothers Primary School- Algeria

Authors : Dlih Souhila . Kaouli Nadhir .

Abstract

The present paper addresses the phenomenon of sound-color symbolism in Arabic language, specifically the concept of brightness on children. Thus, the study samples eighteen monolingual Arabic speaking children equally dichotomized into males and females. By performing a free-choice task that employs auditory stimuli made of vowels-only, consonants-only, then CV strings; and physical stimuli made of eleven colored balls. Children were asked to match the auditory stimuli they hear with the colored ball it represents. Through chi-square results, it is elicited that sound-color relations are valid in Arabic language where voiced consonants and back vowels match dark colors, while voiceless consonants and front vowels match bright colors. Also, salience in sound-color relations in Arabic is attributed to vowels and consonants alike, as it falls into the hierarchical sonority order by Parker (2002). Finally, the gender-related differences are indexed as limited. These results are discussed and contemplated throughout the study.

Keywords

Sound-Color Symbolism ; Salience ; Sonority Scaling ; Brightness ; Gender Differences ; Arabic Language