Novel vocalizations are understood across cultures
Abstract Linguistic communication requires speakers to mutually agree on the meanings of words, but how does such a system first get off the ground? One solution is to rely on iconic gestures: visual signs whose form directly resembles or otherwise cues their meaning without any previously establish...
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Nature Portfolio
2021
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oai:doaj.org-article:7e692e2d8f0b4242bf54df986d350db42021-12-02T17:16:05ZNovel vocalizations are understood across cultures10.1038/s41598-021-89445-42045-2322https://doaj.org/article/7e692e2d8f0b4242bf54df986d350db42021-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89445-4https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Linguistic communication requires speakers to mutually agree on the meanings of words, but how does such a system first get off the ground? One solution is to rely on iconic gestures: visual signs whose form directly resembles or otherwise cues their meaning without any previously established correspondence. However, it is debated whether vocalizations could have played a similar role. We report the first extensive cross-cultural study investigating whether people from diverse linguistic backgrounds can understand novel vocalizations for a range of meanings. In two comprehension experiments, we tested whether vocalizations produced by English speakers could be understood by listeners from 28 languages from 12 language families. Listeners from each language were more accurate than chance at guessing the intended referent of the vocalizations for each of the meanings tested. Our findings challenge the often-cited idea that vocalizations have limited potential for iconic representation, demonstrating that in the absence of words people can use vocalizations to communicate a variety of meanings.Aleksandra ĆwiekSusanne FuchsChristoph DraxlerEva Liina AsuDan DediuKatri HiovainShigeto KawaharaSofia KoutalidisManfred KrifkaPärtel LippusGary LupyanGrace E. OhJing PaulCaterina PetroneRachid RidouaneSabine ReiterNathalie SchümchenÁdám SzalontaiÖzlem Ünal-LogacevJochen ZellerBodo WinterMarcus PerlmanNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-12 (2021) |
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DOAJ |
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EN |
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Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Aleksandra Ćwiek Susanne Fuchs Christoph Draxler Eva Liina Asu Dan Dediu Katri Hiovain Shigeto Kawahara Sofia Koutalidis Manfred Krifka Pärtel Lippus Gary Lupyan Grace E. Oh Jing Paul Caterina Petrone Rachid Ridouane Sabine Reiter Nathalie Schümchen Ádám Szalontai Özlem Ünal-Logacev Jochen Zeller Bodo Winter Marcus Perlman Novel vocalizations are understood across cultures |
| description |
Abstract Linguistic communication requires speakers to mutually agree on the meanings of words, but how does such a system first get off the ground? One solution is to rely on iconic gestures: visual signs whose form directly resembles or otherwise cues their meaning without any previously established correspondence. However, it is debated whether vocalizations could have played a similar role. We report the first extensive cross-cultural study investigating whether people from diverse linguistic backgrounds can understand novel vocalizations for a range of meanings. In two comprehension experiments, we tested whether vocalizations produced by English speakers could be understood by listeners from 28 languages from 12 language families. Listeners from each language were more accurate than chance at guessing the intended referent of the vocalizations for each of the meanings tested. Our findings challenge the often-cited idea that vocalizations have limited potential for iconic representation, demonstrating that in the absence of words people can use vocalizations to communicate a variety of meanings. |
| format |
article |
| author |
Aleksandra Ćwiek Susanne Fuchs Christoph Draxler Eva Liina Asu Dan Dediu Katri Hiovain Shigeto Kawahara Sofia Koutalidis Manfred Krifka Pärtel Lippus Gary Lupyan Grace E. Oh Jing Paul Caterina Petrone Rachid Ridouane Sabine Reiter Nathalie Schümchen Ádám Szalontai Özlem Ünal-Logacev Jochen Zeller Bodo Winter Marcus Perlman |
| author_facet |
Aleksandra Ćwiek Susanne Fuchs Christoph Draxler Eva Liina Asu Dan Dediu Katri Hiovain Shigeto Kawahara Sofia Koutalidis Manfred Krifka Pärtel Lippus Gary Lupyan Grace E. Oh Jing Paul Caterina Petrone Rachid Ridouane Sabine Reiter Nathalie Schümchen Ádám Szalontai Özlem Ünal-Logacev Jochen Zeller Bodo Winter Marcus Perlman |
| author_sort |
Aleksandra Ćwiek |
| title |
Novel vocalizations are understood across cultures |
| title_short |
Novel vocalizations are understood across cultures |
| title_full |
Novel vocalizations are understood across cultures |
| title_fullStr |
Novel vocalizations are understood across cultures |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Novel vocalizations are understood across cultures |
| title_sort |
novel vocalizations are understood across cultures |
| publisher |
Nature Portfolio |
| publishDate |
2021 |
| url |
https://doaj.org/article/7e692e2d8f0b4242bf54df986d350db4 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
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