People around world associate rolled R with a jagged line, study finds

Speakers of 28 languages linked sound and shape at least 88% of the time, in ‘strongest case of sound symbolism to date’

A rolled R is a sound that many struggle to produce, but research suggests it evokes the same curious response in people the world over: an association with a jagged line.

While onomatopoeia describes words that sound like the noise they describe – such as “bang” – sound symbolism is a broader concept, in which sounds map on to a wider range of meanings, such as shape, texture or size.

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