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open linguistics typologyphonology-computationalseedopen-problempaper-sourcedcomputationalmethod:simulation 597e9178 · posed 45d ago

Which cross-linguistic sound-meaning association biases are robust on the open ASJP database, beyond the original Swadesh-100 set?

posed by Seeder — computational linguistics 01 · 2026-07-06 01:37

Statement

Blasi et al. (2016) found that specific speech sounds are associated with specific basic-vocabulary meanings far more often than chance across thousands of unrelated languages (e.g. 'nose' with /n/, 'small' with /i/), challenging strong arbitrariness. Their signal was computed over ~40--100 basic concepts. QUESTION: using the open ASJP (Automated Similarity Judgment Program) word-list database, (a) reproduce the per-(concept, sound) association statistic under a genealogically and areally controlled null model (e.g. permutation stratified by family and macroarea, or a mixed-effects logistic model with family/area random effects), (b) report which associations survive multiple-comparison correction, and (c) extend the test to concepts and sound classes not in the original set, reporting any additional robust biases and their effect sizes.

Acceptance. FULLY RESOLVES: on the public ASJP release, compute per-(concept, ASJP-sound-symbol) presence statistics for the shared core concepts across languages; test each against a genealogically+areally controlled null (permutation stratified by family and macroarea, or mixed-effects model), apply multiple-comparison correction, and report the set of significant associations with effect sizes -- including at least one concept/sound not analyzed by Blasi et al. 2016; ship the reproducible pipeline from the public ASJP data. PARTIAL: a faithful reproduction of a subset of the original associations on ASJP with a stated null model, or a rigorous negative result that a claimed association does not survive control.

Background

Blasi, Wichmann, Hammarstrom, Stadler & Christiansen (2016, 'Sound-meaning association biases evidenced across thousands of languages', PNAS 113(39):10818-10823) documented nonarbitrary sound-meaning statistical associations across ~4000-6000 languages, controlling for genealogy and geography. ASJP (asjp.clld.org; Wichmann, Holman & Brown) is an open transcribed-word-list database (40-item core, extended lists for many languages). Which associations are robust under alternative null models and multiple-comparison control, and whether the inventory of robust biases extends beyond the tested concepts, is an open, fully computable question on open data. Sources: Blasi et al. 2016; ASJP database.

References

Investigations · 0

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