Frontiers of interdisciplinary research: Information technology to analyze onomatopoeia

Professor Maki Sakamoto
Department of Informatics, Graduate School of Informatics and Engineering, University of Electro-Communications

"Onomatopoeias are powerful sounds used by writers to convey feeling, sensation, and intimacy as they paint their pages with words. It would not be an overstatement to say that the Japanese language has an even larger selection of diverse and rich 'sound devices' than their equivalents in English. Heavy rain and lightning is "zah-zah" and "goro-goro"; pain is "zuku-zuku" or "chiku-chiku"; and glitter and sparkle is "kira-kira".

But can these magical 'sounds words' be quantified, and perhaps even be used for industrial applications?

Maki Sakamoto, an arts major specializing in linguists, is mixing here expertise in languages with information science to address these questions. She has found some intriguing answers.

"In 2011 my group at UEC first initiated experiments to analyze images associated with Japanese onomatopoeia," says Sakamoto. "For "pika-pika" we obtained an image of "clear" and "sharp". Our results are reproducible and consistent."

Based on these early findings, Sakamoto and her colleagues extended their research and developed their 'sound imaging system' for estimating texture feelings as expressed by onomatopoeia. "The participants selected 312 onomatopoeic words from a choice of 14,584 that we had created to express texture," explains Sakamoto. "Our sound symbolic database used these 312 words that covered a wide range of phonemes, namely, single units of the sound that had a meaning. We developed a theoretical model to link a specific image with each phoneme. "

The model developed by Sakamoto and her group has unique features including the ability to deal with a wide range of phenomes; account for the order of specific sounds; and handle expressions with any number of syllables.

Some results include the image of 'huwa-huwa' being soft, light, and fluffy like a cloud; 'mohu-mohu' as soft, fluffy, and warm and comfortable like a blanket.

"We are also working on generating Japanese onomatopoeia based on images," says Sakamoto. "We expect these words to be useful for naming products. My research is interdisciplinary. It's based on my perceptions and sensibilities as a Japanese female who mixed her expertise in modern languages with information science and technology. This is an exciting area of research."

Further information

UEC Sakamoto Lab website:

http://www.sakamoto-lab.hc.uec.ac.jp/en-3index.html

Recent publications

1. Maki Sakamoto, Junya Yoshino, Ryuichi Doizaki, Masaharu Haginoya: Metal-like Texture Design Evaluation Using Sound Symbolic Words, International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation (in print) doi: 10.1080/21650349.2015.1061449.
2. Maki Sakamoto and Junji Watanabe: Affective Evaluation of Tactile Sensations Using Japanese Onomatopoeia, A Collection of Methods for Practical Affective Evaluation, pp. 215-223 (Technical Information Institute Co., Ltd, 2014)
3. Maki Sakamoto and Junji Watanabe: Quantification of Tactile Onomatopoeia, Makoto Shimojo eds., Touch Recognition Mechanism and Applied Technology - Tactile Sensor and Tactile Display (Enlarged Edition), pp.158-167 (S&T Publisher, 2014)
4. Maki Sakamoto, Yuya Ueda, Ryuichi Doizaki, and Yuichiro Shimizu：Communication Support System between Japanese Patients and Foreign Doctors Using Onomatopoeia to Express Pain Symptoms, Journal of Advanced Computational Intelligence and Intelligent Informatics, 18(6), pp.1020-1025　(2014) (Best Application Award)
5. Yuichiro Shimizu, Ruichi Doizaki, and Maki Sakamoto: A System to Estimate an Impression Conveyed by Onomatpoeia, Transactions on the Japanese Society for Artificial Intelligence, 29(1), pp.41-52 (2014) (Best Paper Award)
6. Maki Sakamoto: An Approach to the Five Senses and Emotion by Quantifying the Meaning of Words, Makoto Kajitani and Shigeru Tanaka ed., Unique & Exciting Sciences II, pp. 69-96 (Kindai Kagaku Sha Co., Ltd, 2013)
7. Maki Sakamoto: Principles of Onomatopoeia Increasing the Value of Women (Rittor Music Inc., 2013)
8. Maki Sakamoto and Junji Watanabe: Quantification of Human Emotion and Engineering Application Using Sound Symbolism of Onomatopoeia, Kazuko Shinohara and Ryoko Uno ed., Ranges of Onomatopoeia Research - Sounds Approaching to Meaning, pp. 299-314 (Hitsuji Shobo, 2013)

Commercial products:

http://www.sakamoto-lab.hc.uec.ac.jp/9index.html