Sound symbolism refers to associations between language sounds (i.e., phonemes) and perceptual and/or semantic features. One example is the maluma/takete effect: an association between certain phonemes (e.g., /m/, /u/) and roundness, and others (e.g., /k/, /ɪ/) and spikiness. While this association has been demonstrated in laboratory tasks with nonword stimuli, its presence in existing spoken language is unknown. Here we examined whether the maluma/takete effect is attested in English, across a broad sample of words. Best–worst judgments from 171 university students were used to quantify the shape of 1,757 objects, from spiky to round. We then examined whether the presence of certain phonemes in words predicted the shape of the objects to which they refer. We found evidence that phonemes associated with roundness are more common in words referring to round objects, and phonemes associated with spikiness are more common in words referring to spiky objects. This represents an instance of iconicity, and thus nonarbitrariness, in human language.

声音象征是指语言声音（即音素）与感知和/或语义特征之间的关联。一个例子是maluma/takete 效应：某些音素（例如/m/、/u/）与圆度以及其他音素（例如/k/、/ɪ/）与尖刺之间的关联。虽然这种关联已在非单词刺激的实验室任务中得到证明，但它在现有口语中的存在尚不清楚。在这里，我们通过广泛的单词样本检查了 Maluma/takete 效应是否在英语中得到证实。来自 171 名大学生的最佳-最差判断被用来量化 1,757 个物体的形状，从尖刺到圆形。然后我们检查了单词中某些音素的存在是否预测了它们所指对象的形状。我们发现有证据表明，与圆度相关的音素在指代圆形物体的词中更常见，而与尖刺相关的音素在指尖刺物体的词中更常见。这代表了人类语言中的象似性和非任意性的一个实例。