Bonus 52: Gotta test 'em all - The linguistics of Pokémon names

Which sounds cuter, a Pikachu or a Charmander? Which sounds like it would be more likely to win in a fight, a Squirtle or a Blastoise? If you're familiar with the world of Pokémon, you might have opinions based on your experiences with the games or the anime series, but even if you're not familiar with these pocket monsters, or if you're encountering new Pokémon you haven't heard of before, you might still have a vague sense of which names sound big or small, cuddly or powerful.   

In this episode we get enthusiastic about what we can learn about language from studying Pokémon names, the delightful and entirely real linguistic subfield of Pokémonastics! Pokémon names have some unique advantages when it comes to studying sound symbolism. For one thing, the characters come with specific attributes, like size and power stats, which lets researchers make very precise comparisons between, say, the size of various characters and which vowels are in their names. For another, the characters are part of a multinational media franchise, meaning that the names have been translated into many different languages, and allowing for cross-linguistic comparisons between the exact same visuals and stats. In addition, since more Pokémon are added regularly, researchers can make up artificial character names and drawings to test specific hypotheses within an easy-to-explain framework. Whether you're a big Pokémon fan or vaguely familiar with imaginary creatures in general, Pokémonastics is a fun window into how fictional universes can provide a grounding for real research. 

Announcements: 

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Here are the links mentioned in this episode:

• Lingthusiasm Episode 21: What words sound spiky across languages? Interview with Suzy Styles 
• Lingthusiasm Bonus Episode 34: The sounds of sheep, earthquakes, and ice cream - Onomatopoeia 
• Shigeto Kawahara on Pokémonastics: What we are doing and why we are doing it (video) 
• Sound (Symbolic) Patterns in Pokemon Names: Focusing on Voiced Obstruents and Mora Counts - Shigeto Kawahara, Atsushi Noto, Gakuji Kumagai 2017 
• Cross-linguistic and language-specific sound symbolism: Pokémonastics, Shih et al.
• Playful iconicity: Having fun with words
• Wikipedia entry for Ferdinand de Saussure
• Arbitrariness of the sign
• Marginalisation of research on iconic features like ideophones

You can listen to this episode on this page, via the Patreon RSS or download the mp3. A transcript of this episode is available as a Google Doc. Lingthusiasm is also on Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Email us at contact [at] lingthusiasm [dot] com or chat to us on the Patreon page. Gretchen is on Twitter as @GretchenAMcC and blogs at All Things Linguistic. Lauren is on Twitter as @superlinguo and blogs at Superlinguo.

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Lingthusiasm is created by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne. Our senior producer is Claire Gawne, our editorial producer is Sarah Dopierala, and our music is ‘Ancient City’ by The Triangles