Sound-symbolic

"Sound-symbolic" in a Sentence (2 examples)

Wagner proposes a sound-symbolic origin, after the sounds these insects [grasshoppers] make. Although this cannot be fully excluded, this word exhibits suspiciously little formal variation for a sound-symbolic formation.

"Bouba" and "Kiki" are sound-symbolic labels, not directly imitating any actual sound but nonetheless carrying strong intrinsic associations with roundness and pointiness, respectively.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.