Sound symbolism—systematic associations between sounds and meanings—had not been a topic that was actively explored in the generative tradition. In my recent research, however, I argue that formal phonology can benefit from perspectives and insights offered by research on sound symbolism, and vice versa. In this talk, I illustrate this thesis based on a new research paradigm, dubbed “Pokémonastics” (Kawahara et al. 2018; Shih et al. 2019), in which researchers explore the nature of sound symbolism in human languages using Pokémon names. In this talk, I am going to review (1) how Pokémonastics began, (2) why it is a useful research strategy, (3) what we have found so far, and (4) what more needs to be done.
Prochains événements
Voir la liste d'événementsSRPP 22/05/2026 Katia Chirkova
Katia Chirkova (Inalco)
Stefanie Keulen - Seminar 1
Language and the brain: a lifetime perspective.
SRPP 29/05/2026 Chenzi Xu
Chenzi Xu (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
Stefanie Keulen - Seminar 2
The enigmatic cerebellum: involvement in speech and language.


