Chemotherapy as language: Sound symbolism in cancer medication names
Chemotherapy as language: Sound symbolism in cancer medication names
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DOI：
10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.12.016
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发表时间：
2008-04-01
影响因子：
5.4
通讯作者：
Glinert, Lewis H.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Abel, Gregory A.;Glinert, Lewis H.
声音象征主义的概念提出，即使是组成一个词的最微小的声音也可能暗示这个词所代表的对象的性质。与癌症相关的药物名称，可能会对患者产生情感意义，可能会包含这种声音象征性的联系。我们分析了60种常用的癌症相关药物名称中的声音，重点是药物的商品名以及临床常用的名称（商品名或通用名）。我们评估了常见的浊辅音（/B/、/d/、/g/、/v/、/z/;被认为与缓慢和沉重有关）和无浊辅音（/p/、/t/、/k/、/f/、/s/;被认为与快速和明亮有关）的频率，并使用参考数据集将theta与标准美式英语中的预期进行比较。Fisher精确独立性检验显示，化疗辅音频率与标准英语有显著差异（贸易p = 0.009;“常用”p < 0.001）。对于商品名，与标准英语相比，大多数无辅音辅音显著增加;这种效应在“常用”名称中更为明显（该组，O/E = 1.62; 95% CI [1.37，1.89]）。激素类和靶向治疗类商品名中无辅音的频率最高（该组的O/E = 1.76; 95% CI [1.20，2.491]）。我们的研究结果表明，总的来说，化疗药物的名称包含与亮度，小和快速相关的某些声音的频率增加。这一发现提出了关于药物名称在癌症患者和提供者的经历中可能发挥的作用的重要问题。(C)2007爱思唯尔有限公司保留所有权利。
The concept of sound symbolism proposes that even the tiniest sounds comprising a word may suggest the qualities of the object which that word represents. Cancer-related medication names, which are likely to be charged with emotional meaning for patients, might be expected to contain such sound-symbolic associations. We analyzed the sounds in the names of 60 frequently-used cancer-related medications, focusing on the medications' trade names as well as the names (trade or generic) commonly used in the clinic. We assessed the frequency of common voiced consonants (/b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /z/; thought to be associated with slowness and heaviness) and voiceless consonants (/p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /s/; thought to be associated with fastness and lightness), and compared theta to what would be expected in standard American English using a reference dataset. A Fisher's exact test for independence showed the chemotherapy consonantal frequencies to be significantly different from standard English (p = 0.009 for trade; p < 0.001 for "common usage"). For the trade names, the majority of the voiceless consonants were significantly increased compared to standard English; this effect was more pronounced with the "common usage" names (for the group, O/E = 1.62; 95% CI [1.37, 1.89]). Hormonal and targeted therapy trade names showed the greatest frequency of voiceless consonants (for the group, O/E = 1.76; 95% CI [1.20, 2.491). Our results suggest that taken together, the names of chemotherapy medications contain an increased frequency of certain sounds associated with lightness, smallness and fastness. This finding raises important questions about the possible role of the names of medications in the experiences of cancer patients and providers. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.