Sound and Emotion in Given Names
Abstract An analysis of the distribution of phonemes in men's and women's names confirmed several past findings, e.g., women's names were more variable and longer, contained more vowels, and were more likely to end with a vowel, especially schwa. Assigning emotional character to indiv...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University Library System, University of Pittsburgh
2001-06-01
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| Series: | Names |
| Online Access: | http://ans-names.pitt.edu/ans/article/view/1620 |
| _version_ | 1811219734861971456 |
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| author | Cynthia Whissell |
| author_facet | Cynthia Whissell |
| author_sort | Cynthia Whissell |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract
An analysis of the distribution of phonemes in men's and women's names confirmed several past findings, e.g., women's names were more variable and longer, contained more vowels, and were more likely to end with a vowel, especially schwa. Assigning emotional character to individual phonemes revealed that emotional information was encoded in name sounds. Men's names included significantly more cheerful, active, nasty, and unpleasant phonemes while women's names contained more soft, pleasant, passive, and sad phonemes. Phonemic information successfully classified sex. Finally, common androgynous names were found to be emotionally feminine in their distribution of phonemes.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T07:30:54Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fb4ef083be4846c0999cb1528997b584 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0027-7738 1756-2279 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T07:30:54Z |
| publishDate | 2001-06-01 |
| publisher | University Library System, University of Pittsburgh |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Names |
| spelling | doaj.art-fb4ef083be4846c0999cb1528997b5842022-12-22T03:42:05ZengUniversity Library System, University of PittsburghNames0027-77381756-22792001-06-0149210.1179/nam.2001.49.2.97Sound and Emotion in Given NamesCynthia WhissellAbstract An analysis of the distribution of phonemes in men's and women's names confirmed several past findings, e.g., women's names were more variable and longer, contained more vowels, and were more likely to end with a vowel, especially schwa. Assigning emotional character to individual phonemes revealed that emotional information was encoded in name sounds. Men's names included significantly more cheerful, active, nasty, and unpleasant phonemes while women's names contained more soft, pleasant, passive, and sad phonemes. Phonemic information successfully classified sex. Finally, common androgynous names were found to be emotionally feminine in their distribution of phonemes. http://ans-names.pitt.edu/ans/article/view/1620 |
| spellingShingle | Cynthia Whissell Sound and Emotion in Given Names Names |
| title | Sound and Emotion in Given Names |
| title_full | Sound and Emotion in Given Names |
| title_fullStr | Sound and Emotion in Given Names |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sound and Emotion in Given Names |
| title_short | Sound and Emotion in Given Names |
| title_sort | sound and emotion in given names |
| url | http://ans-names.pitt.edu/ans/article/view/1620 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cynthiawhissell soundandemotioningivennames |