Sound symbolism

In the above example sentence, the independent pronouns pé-i (it), hémem (they), čémem (we), or the corresponding nouns (ro) may co-occur with the verb-conjugated pronoun, but the word order is relatively free. (3) The existence of "sound symbolism" in the roots of verbs in this language has been pointed out, which means that the sound properties of the second consonant in the normal form of the root (consonant ₁ , vowel, consonant ₂ ) are related to the meaning of the root. Consonants such as m, n, l, Ĩ, w, and y can be divided into "sonorant," which allows the air to flow smoothly, and "obstruent," which allows resistance, such as stops and fricatives. When we look at the group of vowel alternations in which the second consonant of Kawian verb roots is "sonorant" (replacing "i," "e," and "u"), we find that there are many semantics that indicate smooth movements such as "rotation and shaking" and actions that are thought to be derived from these, while in the case of "obstruent," there are overwhelmingly many semantics that indicate resistance, such as "impact and hitting."

*Some of the terminology that refers to "sound symbolism" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…上例の文中には目的語，主語を示す独立した代名詞pé‐i(それを)，hémem(彼らが)，čémem(我々が)，または相当する名詞(ロ)が，動詞に抱合された代名詞と共起しうるが語順は比較的自由である。(3)この言語では動詞の語根に〈音象徴sound symbolism〉の存在が指摘されているが，それは語根の通常形(子音₁･母音･子音₂)の第2子音の音の性質が語根の意義に関与していることである。子音はm,n,l，Ĩ，w,yのように発音する際，呼気がスムーズに流れるsonorantと，閉鎖･摩擦音のように，抵抗を受けるobstruentに分けられるが，カウィア語動詞語根の第2子音がsonorantである母音交替の語群(i,e,uと替わる)を見ると〈回転･揺れ〉などのスムーズな動きと，それからの派生と考えられる動作を示す意義素が多く，一方obstruentの場合，〈衝撃･打つ〉などの抵抗を表す意義素が圧倒的に多い。…

※「sound symbolism」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報