Resumen de Conventional sound symbolism in terms for organs of speech: A cross-linguistic study

Matthias Urban

• Drawing on data from a sample of 111 languages, this study examines whether certain segments occur with a higher frequency in terms for �nose�, �lip�, and �tooth� than would be expected if the form�meaning correspondence were fully arbitrary. It is found that this is indeed the case for �nose� and �lip�: cross-linguistically, terms for �nose� contain a higher than average number of nasals, and terms for �lip� are more likely than other vocabulary items to contain a bilabial stop. The upshot is, then, that there is a cross-linguistic tendency for these investigated meanings to be designated by terms with a sound-symbolic component. While intuitively appealing, the motivation for this tendency is far from clear, and the article concludes with some speculations concerning the cause of this phenomenon.