Universität zu Köln

Motamedi, Yasamin, Murgiano, Margherita, Perniss, Pamela ORCID: 0000-0002-7662-3381, Wonnacott, Elizabeth, Marshall, Chloe ORCID: 0000-0003-2405-1999, Goldin-Meadow, Susan and Vigliocco, Gabriella (2021). Linking language to sensory experience: Onomatopoeia in early language development. Dev. Sci., 24 (3). HOBOKEN: WILEY. ISSN 1467-7687

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Abstract

A key question in developmental research concerns how children learn associations between words and meanings in their early language development. Given a vast array of possible referents, how does the child know what a word refers to? We contend that onomatopoeia (e.g. knock, meow), where a word's sound evokes the sound properties associated with its meaning, are particularly useful in children's early vocabulary development, offering a link between word and sensory experience not present in arbitrary forms. We suggest that, because onomatopoeia evoke imagery of the referent, children can draw from sensory experience to easily link onomatopoeic words to meaning, both when the referent is present as well as when it is absent. We use two sources of data: naturalistic observations of English-speaking caregiver-child interactions from 14 up to 54 months, to establish whether these words are present early in caregivers' speech to children, and experimental data to test whether English-speaking children can learn from onomatopoeia when it is present. Our results demonstrate that onomatopoeia: (a) are most prevalent in early child-directed language and in children's early productions, (b) are learnt more easily by children compared with non-iconic forms and (c) are used by caregivers in contexts where they can support communication and facilitate word learning.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Motamedi, Yasamin UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Murgiano, Margherita UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Perniss, Pamela UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-7662-3381 UNSPECIFIED Wonnacott, Elizabeth UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Marshall, Chloe UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0003-2405-1999 UNSPECIFIED Goldin-Meadow, Susan UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Vigliocco, Gabriella UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-308645
DOI:	10.1111/desc.13066
Journal or Publication Title:	Dev. Sci.
Volume:	24
Number:	3
Date:	2021
Publisher:	WILEY
Place of Publication:	HOBOKEN
ISSN:	1467-7687
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Human Sciences
Divisions:	Faculty of Human Sciences > Department Heilpädagogik und Rehabilitation
Subjects:	Education Language, Linguistics
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language SOUND-SYMBOLISM; MOTHERS SPEECH; ICONICITY; ACQUISITION; LEARN; SEGMENTATION; JAPANESE; ORIGIN; WORDS; GAZE Multiple languages Psychology, Developmental; Psychology, Experimental Multiple languages
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/30864