Sound Symbolism: An Aural Look at Selected English Consonant Clusters

The connection between initial consonant clusters and the meaning of the words they are attached to is explored in this thesis. Three experiments were carried out based on English consonant clusters attached to invented ‘roots’. The results were favorable in supporting the hypothesis that Jakobsonian phonetic markedness plays a role in the creation and meaning of words.

Thesis Author: Hill, Spencer R.

Year Completed: 1987

Thesis Chair: John Robertson