Phonotactic conditions of geminates can influence sound symbolic effects: cuteness and evilness judgement experiments for Japanese speakers

Abstract This study explores the sound symbolic effects of geminate consonants. I propose three working hypotheses: (1) geminates convey a particular meaning more strongly than singletons, (2) geminates convey it to the same extent as singletons, and (3) geminates convey it less strongly than singletons. To evaluate the most plausible hypothesis, I conducted experiments in which Japanese speakers judged the cuteness and the evilness of nonce words using a four-point scale. The results indicate that, on the one hand, the low-frequency geminate /ɾɾ/ in Japanese conveys cuteness less strongly than its singleton counterpart. On the other hand, the low-frequency geminate /bb/ conveys evilness to the same extent as its corresponding singleton. In conclusion, this study suggests that both the second and third hypotheses are plausible. Further research is needed to determine whether these findings extend to other sound symbolic associations across languages.