Which of these shapes above is “bouba” and which is “kiki”?
In 1929, German-American psychologist Wolfgang Köhler conducted a series of In psychological experiments, which showed forms similar to those shown above, and found a
strong preference to pair the jagged shape with the word "takete" and
the rounded shape with the word "baluba" ("maluma" in the 1947 version).
In 2001, Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and Edward Hubbard repeated Köhler experiment using the words "kiki" and "bouba" and asked large numbers of subjects "Which of these shapes is bouba and which is kiki?" In tests conducted with both English and Tamil speakers, 95% to 98% picked the curvy shape as bouba and the jagged one as kiki, suggesting that the human brain is somehow able to extract abstract properties from the shapes and sounds. Recent work by Daphne Maurer and colleagues has shown that even children as young as 2.5 (too young to read) show this effect.
In 2001, Vilayanur S. Ramachandran and Edward Hubbard repeated Köhler experiment using the words "kiki" and "bouba" and asked large numbers of subjects "Which of these shapes is bouba and which is kiki?" In tests conducted with both English and Tamil speakers, 95% to 98% picked the curvy shape as bouba and the jagged one as kiki, suggesting that the human brain is somehow able to extract abstract properties from the shapes and sounds. Recent work by Daphne Maurer and colleagues has shown that even children as young as 2.5 (too young to read) show this effect.
Read about Sound Symbolism and Buba and Kiki.
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