Phonosemantic organization as an unbounded field for investigation

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PHONOSEMANTIC ORGANIZATION AS AN UNBOUNDED FIELD FOR INVESTIGATION

Evenko Elena Viktorovna, Ph. D. in Philology

Klyukina Yuliya Viktorovna, Ph. D. in Philology

Lyabina Olesya Gennadievna, Ph. D. in Philology, Associate Professor

Tambov State Technical University

Abstract

Phonosemantic organization is considered in the article in order to underline its significance in text comprehension on different levels of analysis of sound symbolism: phonemes, word forms and text segments. Various thinking processes and approaches can be applied to examine it. The objects of phonosemantics such as phenomena of sound symbolism and sound imitation (onomatopoeia) are considered by the authors of the paper. Thus it proves the necessity of further research in this field.

Key words and phrases: phonosemantic text organization; comprehension; sound symbolism; sound imitation; perception; tone-sense; associations.

Аннотация

В статье рассматривается фоносемантическая организованность текста с целью подчеркнуть ее значение в процессе понимания текста на разных его уровнях анализа звукового символизма: фонемы, словоформы и отрезки текста. В данном исследовании различные мыслительные процессы и подходы могут применяться в изучении этого явления. Авторы анализируют два важнейших для фоносемантики явления (объекта изучения) - звуковой символизм и звукоподражание. Таким образом, работа подтверждает необходимость дальнейших исследований в этой области.

Ключевые слова и фразы: фоносемантическая организованность текста; понимание; звуковой символизм; звукоподражание; восприятие; смысл-тональность; ассоциации.

The relationship between comprehension and emotions is likely to be an unbounded field for the research within different classical sciences. We should know how emotions influence the comprehensive worldview formation and the development of the comprehensive personality. It gives us an opportunity to develop language theory or solve practical problems.

Lately the scientists have paid special attention to the problem of phonosemantics. Some articles are devoted to its object - sound symbolism and sound imitation [1-2; 5]. Some works consider this topic from another aspect. So sound emotional tuning of the text is studied as a specific lexical unit arrangement, creating tone-sense. This problem was studied in the following works: ЇPhonosemantic text organization as a means, assisting tone-sense constructing?, ЇSme antic evolution of lexics? [3; 4].

The novelty of the research is that tone-sense as emotional text tuning characterized by the specific lexical unit arrangement is distinguished from contextual meaning in the process of comprehension. And the phenomenon symbolic sound metaphor hasn`t been studied profoundly yet.

Phonosemantics (the term by S. Voronin, 1982) is in the focus of the article as it is a rapidly developing young branch of linguistics. It is considered in connection with semantics, psycholinguistics and hermeneutics.

Such significant processes as text perception, representation of text units, categorization of perceived text units, associations based on represented text units take part in tone-sense construction of the text.

From our point of view tone-sense construction can be considered as an important factor for text comprehension and its interpretation. The comprehension process under text perception of phonosemantic organization by a model recipient is defined as an active process of thinking activity (hermeneutical approach). In this article the mechanism of comprehension assumes the problem of association theory represented in the field of phonosemantics. That is a Їoht? investigation theme in semantics as a whole.

Phonosemantics based on its fundamental subsystems: sound symbolism (phonetic symbolism) and sound imitation (onomatopoeia) (the term is given by W. von Humboldt) is in the spotlight of the article. Phonosemantics deals with the problem of the semantics of the sound. The sequential application of general phonosemantic theory drawn to the investigation of the above mentioned connection between a sound and its meaning.

From C. Peirce`s point of view [10, p. 235] the sign is functional and shows its worth in semiosis (semiosis is a sign process including the production of meaning).

M. Magnus [9, p. 112-114], the author of the book ЇGods of the Word?, explains the notion as regular correlation between the form of the word and its meaning. phonosemantic organization symbolism comprehension

On the contrary, there are linguists opposing to sound symbolism (F. de Saussurian arbitrariness of the sign). But many linguists confirm the phenomenon of sound symbolism: D. Bolinger ЇThe Sign is not Arbitrary? (1949), J. Nuckells ЇThe Case for Sound Symbolism? (1999).

The problem of sound (the sign) and its meaning is under discussion among vast majority of foreign linguists in many countries because this phenomenon is universal. A number of foreign scientists contributed to phonosemantics: H. Marchand (1959), D. Bolinger (1965), F. Householder (1946), O. Jespersen (1933), S. Newman (1933), E. Nida (1952), G. Kirchner (1941), M. Rubiny (1913), E. Sapir (1929), I. K. Taylor (1965), R. Jakobson (1965),

I. Fonagy (1961), A. Danielou (1967), L. Bloomfield (1935) and many others.

The well-known effect of smallness of phoneme [i] (tiny) in the English words discovered by Jespersen [8, p. 50-54] is derived from sound symbolism. The author devoted his article ЇSymbolic Value of the Vowel [i]? to the effect of small size of Їhigh-front- non-round vowel [i]?. Such words are widely used in many languages. due to sound symbolism.

S. Ramachandran [12] outlined in his research the phenomenon of synesthesia in which people experience sounds in terms of colours or tastes. This theory can explain how human create metaphors and how sounds can be metaphors of images, they can be Їbright? or Їdull?. S. Ramachandran proves relationship of sound symbolism with neuroscience through synesthetic cross modal abstraction. Canary Islands natives called the shape of Їstar? - Їkiki? (sharp) and the shape of Їflower? - Їbouba? (round) (the ЇBouba/kiki effect).

Nowadays the existence of sound symbolism in different languages was proved with experimental-psychological and psycholinguistic experiments. But a native speaker of any language uses phonetic means of his native language and the phonetic system of a definite language has its own specific characteristics. If in the basis of nomination of sound symbolic words from different languages the same attribute is chosen there are similarities in their phonetic formation.

Metaphor is characterized by larger freedom of alternative choice of attributes, wider fancy and imagination participation under language attribution. Metaphor transfer can vary from external, taking into account the shape of comparing objects, actions, temporary relations, existing between actions, features of personal or animal acts and inanimate objects, to internal based on their subjective emotional perception.

As metaphorization is based on association links of human experience, anthropometry - the ability to present the essence of one thing as if it would be the other one - is always the basis of any metaphor rethinking. So metaphor conveys some valuable information about real personal scale of knowledge and representations, about conceptual human system in different historical ages together with national-cultural values and stereotypes. In other words any metaphorical innovation fixes native`s world view, social, cultural and historical experience.

Primary metaphorical transfers are limited to cases of English sound symbolic verbs Їsuond symbolic metaphors? having a definite character. Sound symbolic metaphor is a phenomenon typical for only semantic evolution of sound symbolic words playing an important role in the process of sound symbolism semantic evolution.

Symbolic sound metaphor combines meanings, representing attributes perceived by such human sensory modality as eyesight, taste, olfaction, organic senses, that is different types of motions, light phenomena, walk, mimics, man and animal`s physiological and emotional state.

Giambattista Vico (1725) underlined the wide spread of anthropometrical metaphors in different languages. A wide variety of word phrases relating to inanimate objects, formed through the transfer of body names or parts of body and names of human feelings to these inanimate objects. According to S. Ullmann [13, p. 95] there are two kinds of anthropomorphic transfers: from objective world to a man and vice versa, from a man to the surrounding world.

Sound imitative (onomatopoetic) words are also found in many spheres of our life. Some very common Englishlanguage examples include hiccup, zoom, bang, beep, and splash. Machines and their sounds are also often described with onomatopoeia, as in honk or beep-beep for the horn of an automobile, and vroom or brum for an engine.

For animal and bird sounds, words like quack (duck), moo (cow), bark or woof (dog), roar (lion), meow or purr (cat), baa (sheep), cheep, peep, cheet, tweet (sparrow), cank (goose), jug (nightingale), whoo, whoop, whoot, tu-whoo, tu- whit (owl) [6] are typically used in English.

Comics and advertising made extensive use of onomatopoeia. Words as well as images became vehicles for storylines adding "bam," "pow", "wham", Їnsikt? (the sound of Spider-Man). In the movie ЇWinnie the Pooh? that "Pooh" got his name from the sound he made when trying to blow a bee off of his nose.

Sound symbolism also penetrated into advertisements: "clunk click, every trip" (click the seatbelt on after clunking the car door closed; UK campaign) or "click, clack, front and back" (click, clack of connecting the seatbelts; AU campaign) or "click it or ticket" (click of the connecting seatbelt; US DOT campaign) [7].

There exist many examples of this phenomenon in the texts:

ЇWhat a world of happiness their harmony foretells.? The sounds of breathing [h] in combination with [n] [m] transfer the state of Їcalmness and relief? [11].

Thus, in addition to lexical, stylistic, grammar means of text building phonosemantic organization of the text plays an important role in building contextual meaning Їcharacter`s state? in relation to sound form. Phonosemantic organization makes up the tone-sense of the text on the basis of sound and tone-sense associations. While interpreting text peculiarities of cognitive processes such as perception, representation, categorization, revealing associations and tone-sense should be taken into account at perception of phonosemantic organization of the text.

Thinking activity at the reception of the text sound organization represents the representation of such phonosemantic means which are perceived as unusual, devoid of automatism and thus attracting recipient`s attention. This leads to tone-sense building which in its turn assists recipient in the organization of contextual meaning.

The process of perception of sound organization is based on the psychophysiological activity. Man has a rather complicated ear in which the sound waves vary as sounds with corresponding physical characteristics. Psychologists interpret perception of sound organization as the process of detecting object world in the human psyche and consider it as a multidimensional image of reality formed in the human consciousness.

Thus, we come to a conclusion that phonosemantic organization is a very rich field in further scientific researches and a number of studies carried out by many linguists in our country and abroad prove this fact and its significance in text comprehension on different levels of sound symbolism analysis: phonemes, word forms and text segments. Phonosemantic theory in connection with association theory, hermeneutical and psycho-linguistic approaches gives us an opportunity of multidimensional consideration of lexical and text units in the process of their comprehension.

Список литературы

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