An average get try 1.478 on the plosive reputation, step one.forty-five on the fricative position, step 1.707 regarding the nasal reputation, and step one.942 from the water position. A reduced part inside the Table step 3 summarises the outcome away from model out-of Place 3. The latest baseline was the latest fricative status, and in addition we compared the fresh plosive versus. fricative requirements, the brand new nose compared to. fricative standards, and water versus. fricative conditions. Very first, the difference between the plosive and you will fricative conditions wasn’t reliable, due to the fact 95% CI on the coefficient estimate integrated zero [?0.06, 0.09]. Next, this new nasal versus. fricative and liquids vs. fricative reviews indicated that both of the new coefficient prices had been self-confident (? = 0.16) (nasal) and (? = 0.3) (liquid) and you may both of the fresh new 95% CIs failed to become no ([0.09, 0.24] (nasal) and you may [0.23, 0.38] (liquid)), and so recommending you to nonce words which have nasals and drinking water was basically evaluated as a great deal more kawaii names compared to those which have fricatives.

Talk

The modern data indicated that (1) labial consonants will become regarding the kawaii than just coronal and you can dorsal consonants, (2) high-volume consonants may be of this kawaii than just low-regularity consonants, and you will (3) liquid /?/ and you can nasal /n/ are more likely to feel regarding the kawaii than just fricative /z/ (and you may plosive /d/). These types of show recommend that the spot-of-articulation function with the kawaii try [labial], additionally the frequency function on the kawaii was [high frequency]. The manner-of-articulation feature need next dialogue. Because the consonant appearing the best mediocre rating is actually water /?/, we are able to assume the trends-of-articulation function associated with kawaii is actually [liquid]. But not, since the Bayesian research presented, nasal /n/ is far more probably be of kawaii than simply fricative /z/. Thus, we could conclude one to liquid and nasals, each of being [sonorant], try of the kawaii.

General discussion

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 smallness, 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 kissbrides.com klicka hГ¤r nu 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.