Sound symbolism facilitates interspecies communication between humans and domestic dogs (Canis familiaris)
Sound symbolism facilitates interspecies communication between humans and domestic dogs (Canis familiaris)
The evolution of human communication likely centred, in part, on shared intuitions about the mapping of sound to meaning. These sound-meaning intuitions, known as sound symbolism, can be seen for example in the bouba-kiki effect, where nonsense words carry inherent meaning about their likely referents (here, rounded vs. angular objects respectively). In our paper we suggest for the first time that sound symbolism can afford successful interspecies communication between humans and animals in certain circumstances. Over four investigations, including replications, we show that humans use sound symbolism significantly and pervasively to attempt to convey meaning to domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), specifically, by exploiting vocal prosody to signal elevation in space. In Study 1 we analysed recordings of amateur dog owners commanding their dogs to move upwards (e.g., “stand”) or downwards (e.g., “down”), finding higher mean pitch (fundamental frequency, f
0) in the former versus the latter. In Studies 2 and 3a, we replicated this in competitive dog owners, both in self-report, and in acoustic voice-analyses recorded in competition. In addition, professionals also used further sound symbolism beyond amateurs, in their commands for the dog to “sit” (using higher pitch to denote sit up vs. sit down). Finally, in Study 3b, we demonstrate that sound symbolism appears to be mutually understood by dogs in certain useful circumstances. Dogs were faster to enact “down” commands with prosodic sound symbolism, compared to without, demonstrating that sound symbolism may sometimes underlie successful inter-species communication.
Animal communication, Cross-modality, Dog, Pitch, Prosody, Sound symbolism
Korzeniowska, A.T.
6419ff9e-543f-4e41-8d14-1f4b05e231af
Root-Gutteridge, H.
7e88de2a-8a1d-44a7-9438-4a3a48f11052
Reby, D.
3bf4c3ea-9eb0-4b1a-9fe8-bc7a5406387c
Simner, J.
bb2156da-4da1-4485-8583-4b456b262541
11 November 2025
Korzeniowska, A.T.
6419ff9e-543f-4e41-8d14-1f4b05e231af
Root-Gutteridge, H.
7e88de2a-8a1d-44a7-9438-4a3a48f11052
Reby, D.
3bf4c3ea-9eb0-4b1a-9fe8-bc7a5406387c
Simner, J.
bb2156da-4da1-4485-8583-4b456b262541
Korzeniowska, A.T., Root-Gutteridge, H., Reby, D. and Simner, J.
(2025)
Sound symbolism facilitates interspecies communication between humans and domestic dogs (Canis familiaris).
Scientific Reports, 15 (1), [39476].
(doi:10.1038/s41598-025-22923-1).
Abstract
The evolution of human communication likely centred, in part, on shared intuitions about the mapping of sound to meaning. These sound-meaning intuitions, known as sound symbolism, can be seen for example in the bouba-kiki effect, where nonsense words carry inherent meaning about their likely referents (here, rounded vs. angular objects respectively). In our paper we suggest for the first time that sound symbolism can afford successful interspecies communication between humans and animals in certain circumstances. Over four investigations, including replications, we show that humans use sound symbolism significantly and pervasively to attempt to convey meaning to domestic dogs (Canis familiaris), specifically, by exploiting vocal prosody to signal elevation in space. In Study 1 we analysed recordings of amateur dog owners commanding their dogs to move upwards (e.g., “stand”) or downwards (e.g., “down”), finding higher mean pitch (fundamental frequency, f
0) in the former versus the latter. In Studies 2 and 3a, we replicated this in competitive dog owners, both in self-report, and in acoustic voice-analyses recorded in competition. In addition, professionals also used further sound symbolism beyond amateurs, in their commands for the dog to “sit” (using higher pitch to denote sit up vs. sit down). Finally, in Study 3b, we demonstrate that sound symbolism appears to be mutually understood by dogs in certain useful circumstances. Dogs were faster to enact “down” commands with prosodic sound symbolism, compared to without, demonstrating that sound symbolism may sometimes underlie successful inter-species communication.
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s41598-025-22923-1
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Published date: 11 November 2025
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Keywords:
Animal communication, Cross-modality, Dog, Pitch, Prosody, Sound symbolism
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Local EPrints ID: 507460
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/507460
ISSN: 2045-2322
PURE UUID: 0aaec96e-6fe4-4adf-b214-f58befd2aece
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Date deposited: 09 Dec 2025 17:54
Last modified: 12 Dec 2025 03:02
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Author:
A.T. Korzeniowska
Author:
H. Root-Gutteridge
Author:
D. Reby
Author:
J. Simner
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