title: The sound symbolism bootstrapping hypothesis for language acquisition and language evolution.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Japan imai@sfc.keio.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Mutsumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Imai
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Birmingham, CV4 7AL, UK.
authors.forename: Sotaro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kita
mesh_terms: D001245:Association Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003468:Cultural Evolution; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007804:Language Development; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009633:Nonverbal Communication / Q000523:psychology; D013016:Sound; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013561:Symbolism
keywords: iconic gesture; language acquisition; language evolution; lexical development; sound symbolism
references.citation: Child Dev. 2014 May-Jun;85(3):1181-1189
references.pmid: 24266553
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 1999 Mar;9(2):137-50
references.pmid: 10220226
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Dec 20;108(51):20661-5
references.pmid: 22143791
references.citation: Sci Am. 1960 Sep;203:89-96
references.pmid: 14402211
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2003 Dec;7(12):553-9
references.pmid: 14643372
references.citation: Neuroreport. 2005 Apr 25;16(6):653-6
references.pmid: 15812327
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Learn Mem Cogn. 2012 Sep;38(5):1152-64
references.pmid: 22468804
references.citation: Dev Sci. 2006 May;9(3):316-22
references.pmid: 16669803
references.citation: Front Psychol. 2010 Dec 31;1:227
references.pmid: 21833282
references.citation: Cognition. 2010 Jan;114(1):19-28
references.pmid: 19828141
references.citation: Psychol Sci. 2010 Jun;21(6):873-81
references.pmid: 20431048
references.citation: J Child Lang. 1990 Jun;17(2):357-74
references.pmid: 2380274
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2005 Oct;9(10):474-80
references.pmid: 16150631
references.citation: J Abnorm Psychol. 1957 May;54(3):312-8
references.pmid: 13448833
references.citation: Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2011 Dec;64(12):2392-404
references.pmid: 21895561
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Aug 8;103(32):12203-8
references.pmid: 16882728
references.citation: Cognition. 2009 Nov;113(2):234-43
references.pmid: 19765698
references.citation: Child Dev. 2007 May-Jun;78(3):741-5
references.pmid: 17517001
references.citation: Cognition. 2003 Apr;87(3):151-78
references.pmid: 12684198
references.citation: Trends Neurosci. 2008 Aug;31(8):401-9
references.pmid: 18602171
references.citation: Cognition. 2013 Feb;126(2):165-72
references.pmid: 23121711
references.citation: Cognition. 2012 Nov;125(2):244-62
references.pmid: 22878116
references.citation: Cognition. 2008 Oct;109(1):54-65
references.pmid: 18835600
references.citation: Child Dev. 2002 Sep-Oct;73(5):1378-91
references.pmid: 12361307
references.citation: J Cogn Neurosci. 2011 Nov;23(11):3228-40
references.pmid: 21391764
references.citation: Dev Psychol. 2000 Sep;36(5):571-581
references.pmid: 10976598
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2000 Apr;4(4):156-163
references.pmid: 10740280
references.citation: Dev Psychol. 2007 Sep;43(5):1051-61
references.pmid: 17723035
references.citation: Cogn Psychol. 1996 Aug;31(1):41-81
references.pmid: 8812021
references.citation: Infancy. 2006 May;9(3):259-288
references.pmid: 33412680
references.citation: Child Dev. 2008 Jul-Aug;79(4):979-1000
references.pmid: 18717902
references.citation: Child Dev. 2001 May-Jun;72(3):787-802
references.pmid: 11405582
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2014 Sep 19;369(1651):20130299
references.pmid: 25092667
references.citation: Dev Psychol. 1998 Nov;34(6):1289-309
references.pmid: 9823513
references.citation: Dev Psychol. 2009 Jan;45(1):175-89
references.pmid: 19210000
references.citation: J Exp Child Psychol. 2011 May;109(1):132-40
references.pmid: 21145067
references.citation: Nature. 1999 Feb 4;397(6718):430-3
references.pmid: 9989408
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2001 Jan 1;5(1):16-25
references.pmid: 11164732
references.citation: Psychol Sci. 2012 Jul 1;23(7):728-33
references.pmid: 22692337
references.citation: Monogr Soc Res Child Dev. 1987;52(1):1-102
references.pmid: 3431563
references.citation: Eur J Neurosci. 2010 May;31(9):1683-9
references.pmid: 20525081
references.citation: Dev Psychol. 2002 Jul;38(4):604-14
references.pmid: 12090489
references.citation: J Cogn Dev. 2012;13(2):232-265
references.pmid: 23807870
references.citation: Cortex. 2015 Feb;63:196-205
references.pmid: 25282057
references.citation: Br J Psychol. 1961 Aug;52:259-68
references.pmid: 13720232
references.citation: J Child Lang. 1993 Jun;20(2):395-418
references.pmid: 8376476
references.citation: Psychol Sci. 2010 Jan;21(1):21-5
references.pmid: 20424017
references.citation: Cognition. 2009 Jul;112(1):181-6
references.pmid: 19447384
references.citation: Cogn Sci. 2010 Aug;34(6):909-57
references.pmid: 21564239
references.citation: Annu Rev Psychol. 2011;62:621-47
references.pmid: 20809790
references.citation: Dev Psychol. 2000 Mar;36(2):155-68
references.pmid: 10749073
references.citation: Nat Rev Neurosci. 2001 Apr;2(4):229-39
references.pmid: 11283746
references.citation: Brain Lang. 2005 Apr;93(1):10-9
references.pmid: 15766764
references.citation: Science. 1996 Dec 13;274(5294):1926-8
references.pmid: 8943209
references.citation: Child Dev. 2002 Jan-Feb;73(1):93-109
references.pmid: 14717246
references.citation: Psychol Sci. 2011 Nov;22(11):1419-21
references.pmid: 21960249
references.citation: Cognition. 1997 Feb;62(2):169-200
references.pmid: 9141906
references.citation: Child Dev. 1993 Jun;64(3):637-56
references.pmid: 8339686
references.citation: J Abnorm Psychol. 1955 May;50(3):388-93
references.pmid: 14381156
references.citation: Science. 2004 Sep 17;305(5691):1779-82
references.pmid: 15375269
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2014 Sep 19;369(1651):20130300
references.pmid: 25092668
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Gen. 2011 Aug;140(3):325-47
references.pmid: 21517205
references.citation: Child Dev. 2005 Mar-Apr;76(2):340-55
references.pmid: 15784086
references.citation: J Exp Child Psychol. 2013 Feb;114(2):173-86
references.pmid: 22960203
references.citation: Psychol Sci. 2012 Dec;23(12):1443-8
references.pmid: 23150275