Towards a phonetically-rich account of speech-sound > colour synaesthesia

Abstract

This paper explores the contribution that phonetics can make to research into certain types of synaesthesia, those which have speech sounds as the ‘inducer’ or trigger for the synaesthetic experience, and colour as the ‘concurrent’ or triggered experience. These variants are under-researched relative to other variants. We first discuss the complex inter-relationship between speech sounds and graphemes as synaesthetic inducers, then review recent findings concerning the parameters of speech that can evoke impressions of colour. These findings suggest systematic relationships, but a more detailed phonetic approach is needed to better understand the mappings