Perspectives on soundscapes

Abstract This study explores how listeners use verb constructions to describe everyday sounds. It considers (i) how the verb constructions provide Gestalt to events in the form of activities, processes and states, and (ii) how the constructions correspond to different aspects of a soundscape (sound sources, acoustic properties, and listener reactions). We found that verb constructions primarily describe sound sources and that these are portrayed as dynamic events. Acoustic properties were rarely described through verb constructions. When they were, the constructions primarily conveyed static properties of sound as in the sound is loud as opposed to dynamic events as in the sound comes closer . Listener reactions were primarily expressed through comparative constructions such as it sounds like and justifications such as I can hear . The upshot of the study is that speakers conceptualise sounds according to highly dynamic Gestalts for which the main focus is the source of the sound.