Made-Up Sounds Convey Meaning across Cultures

Nonsense words can be recognisable to people around the world — and not just when they’re onomatopoeic. Researchers asked English-speaking people, mostly from the United States, to make up sounds to represent a wide range of concepts, including ‘sleep’, ‘tiger’, ‘many’ and ‘good’. These vocalisations were played for volunteers in 7 countries, who spoke a total of 28 languages, and had to guess the sounds’ meanings from a list of options. Across the board, people guessed the intended meanings at rates better than chance. The findings might hint at ‘iconic’ sounds that serve as the foundations for language.