The average score try 1.478 on the plosive status, 1.forty five regarding fricative condition, 1.707 on nasal reputation, and you will 1.942 regarding the h2o status. A decreased part in Desk 3 summarises the results out of model of Place step three. The new baseline is this new fricative position, and then we opposed the latest plosive against. fricative standards, the fresh new nasal vs. fricative standards, as well as the h2o vs. fricative criteria. Basic, the difference between the new plosive and you can fricative requirements was not credible, because 95% CI from the coefficient estimate provided zero [?0.06, 0.09]. 2nd, the fresh new nasal against. fricative and you will liquid vs. fricative reviews indicated that both of the latest coefficient prices was positive (? = 0.16) (nasal) and you can (? = 0.3) (liquid) and you will both of brand new 95% CIs failed to include no ([0.09, 0.24] (nasal) and you may [0.23, 0.38] (liquid)), and so suggesting one to nonce terms and conditions with nasals and you will drinking water was in fact evaluated to get significantly more kawaii labels than those that have fricatives.
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The present day investigation indicated that (1) labial consonants Mexikos singlar will be on the kawaii than coronal and dorsal consonants, (2) high-frequency consonants are more inclined to feel associated with kawaii than low-frequency consonants, and (3) liquids /?/ and you may nose /n/ will getting associated with the kawaii than simply fricative /z/ (and you may plosive /d/). Such efficiency recommend that the area-of-articulation function from the kawaii was [labial], plus the frequency feature associated with kawaii try [high frequency]. The manner-of-articulation function needs further talk. Since the consonant appearing the highest average get are drinking water /?/, we could think that the style-of-articulation function associated with the kawaii try [liquid]. But not, as Bayesian analysis exhibited, nose /n/ is more apt to be of this kawaii than just fricative /z/. Thus, we are able to ending you to definitely liquids and you can nasals, all of which are [sonorant], is actually with the kawaii.
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This study showed that the features of consonants associated with kawaii in Japanese are [labial], [high frequency], and [sonorant]. The motivations for the three features are briefly discussed below. The feature [labial] may be linked to a pouting gesture, that is, a gesture made using both lips can induce Japanese people to feel kawaii (Kumagai, 2020). The feature [labial] may also be linked to the image of babies, in that bilabial consonants are more frequent in the earlier phases of language acquisition (Kumagai and Kawahara, 2020). Thus, it can be said that consonants with feature [labial] can evoke the image of babies, at least in Japanese. The feature [high frequency] may stem from shortness, as the frequency code hypothesis states that high-frequency sounds are associated with smallness (Ohala, 1984, 1994). The feature [sonorant] may be connected to a number of observations on sound symbolic effects in names and shapes. Sonorants are better suited for female names or rounded shapes (Shinohara and Kawahara, 2013; Asano et al., 2015). To summarise, the factors associated with kawaii may include pouting gesture, babyishness, smallness, femininity, and roundness. It is interesting that some of these factors overlap with the factors noted by Kinsella (1995) for cute characters. She noted that ‘The essential anatomy of a cute cartoon character consists in its being small, soft, infantile, mammalian, round, without bodily appendages (e.g., arms), without bodily orifices (e.g., mouths), non-sexual, mute, insecure, helpless or bewildered‘. (p. 226; emphasis mine). Taking the fact into consideration that Kinsella (1995) was published more than 25 years ago, it is inferred that something that evokes kawaii in the minds of Japanese speakers has not changed for at least 25 years.
As noted in the introduction section, it is well known that sound symbolism plays an important role in ; Klink and Wu, 2014). The exploration of what consonants are better suited for kawaii names is an interesting topic. Based on the above discussion, it is inferred that the consonants that induce the feeling of kawaii among Japanese people include /p/, /?/, and /m/, as the first consonant /p/ is specified with [labial] and [high frequency], the second consonant /?/ with [sonorant], and the third consonant /m/ with [labial] and [sonorant]. Based on his kawaii judgment experiment with Japanese speakers, Kumagai (2019) discusses whether /m/, in addition to /p/, is another consonant expressive of kawaii in Japanese, since his study results demonstrated that fewest differences existed regarding average scores between nonce words with /p/ and those with /m/. In Japanese words or character names that seem to be associated with kawaii, we find examples that contain /p/, /?/, or /m/. For example, a mimetic word, or onomatopoeia, purupuru, is used to express something soft or something that trembles like jelly. We also find a cute character name pomupomu purin ‘Pom Pom Purin‘, created by Sanrio. Moreover, Kawahara (2019) reported that bilabial consonants and /?/ are often used in girls‘ names in a popular Japanese anime PreCure, broadcast since 2004. It is expected that these consonants will prove applicable in naming anime characters or products that are characterised by kawaii.