Nonsense syllable
Encyclopedia
In cognitive psychology, a nonsense syllable is a word-like string of letters that is not intended to have any established meaning; it is a special case of a non-lexical vocable
. Nonsense syllables have been extensively used in experimental psychology
, especially the psychology of learning and memory
.
Nonsense syllables were first introduced by Hermann Ebbinghaus
in his experiments on the learning of lists. His intention was that they would form a standard stimulus so that experiments would be reproducible. However, with increasing use it became apparent that different nonsense syllables were learned at very different rates, even when they had the same superficial structure. Glaze introduced the concept of association value
to describe these differences, which turned out to be reliable between people and situations. Since Glaze's time, experiments using nonsense syllables typically control association value in order to reduce variability in results between stimuli.
Nonsense syllables can vary in structure. The most used are the so-called CVC
syllables, composed of a consonant, a vowel, and a consonant; these have the advantage that they are all pronouncable (or nearly all, depending on how you feel about pronouncing, say, "XUQ"). They are often described as "CVC trigram
s", reflecting their three-letter structure. Obviously many other structures are possible, and can be described on the same principles, e.g. VC, VCV, CVCV. But the CVC trigrams have been studied most intensively; for example, Glaze determined association values for 2019 of them.
The term nonsense syllable is widely used to describe non-lexical vocables used in music
, most notably in scat singing
but also in many other forms of vocal music. Although such usages do not invoke the technical issues about structure and associability that are of concern in psychology, the essential meaning of the term is the same.
Vocable
In speech, a vocable is an utterance, term, or word that is capable of being spoken and recognized. A non-lexical vocable is used without semantic role or meaning, while structure of vocables is often considered apart from any meaning...
. Nonsense syllables have been extensively used in experimental psychology
Experimental psychology
Experimental psychology is a methodological approach, rather than a subject, and encompasses varied fields within psychology. Experimental psychologists have traditionally conducted research, published articles, and taught classes on neuroscience, developmental psychology, sensation, perception,...
, especially the psychology of learning and memory
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
.
Nonsense syllables were first introduced by Hermann Ebbinghaus
Hermann Ebbinghaus
Hermann Ebbinghaus was a German psychologist who pioneered the experimental study of memory, and is known for his discovery of the forgetting curve and the spacing effect. He was also the first person to describe the learning curve...
in his experiments on the learning of lists. His intention was that they would form a standard stimulus so that experiments would be reproducible. However, with increasing use it became apparent that different nonsense syllables were learned at very different rates, even when they had the same superficial structure. Glaze introduced the concept of association value
Association value
Association value is a concept in cognitive psychology and in particular the psychology of human learning and memory. The association value of a stimulus is a measure of its meaningfulness...
to describe these differences, which turned out to be reliable between people and situations. Since Glaze's time, experiments using nonsense syllables typically control association value in order to reduce variability in results between stimuli.
Nonsense syllables can vary in structure. The most used are the so-called CVC
CVC
- Science and Industry :*Compact Video Cassette - a quarter-inch video cassette format*Card Verification Code - a security feature on credit cards*Card Verifiable Certificate - a format for digital certificates usable by smart cards...
syllables, composed of a consonant, a vowel, and a consonant; these have the advantage that they are all pronouncable (or nearly all, depending on how you feel about pronouncing, say, "XUQ"). They are often described as "CVC trigram
Trigram
Trigrams are a special case of the N-gram, where N is 3. They are often used in natural language processing for doing statistical analysis of texts.-Frequency:The 16 most common trigrams in English are:-Examples:...
s", reflecting their three-letter structure. Obviously many other structures are possible, and can be described on the same principles, e.g. VC, VCV, CVCV. But the CVC trigrams have been studied most intensively; for example, Glaze determined association values for 2019 of them.
The term nonsense syllable is widely used to describe non-lexical vocables used in music
Non-lexical vocables in music
Non-lexical vocables, which may be mixed with meaningful text, are a form of nonsense syllable used in a wide variety of music. A common English example would be "la la la".-Traditional music:...
, most notably in scat singing
Scat singing
In vocal jazz, scat singing is vocal improvisation with wordless vocables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. Scat singing gives singers the ability to sing improvised melodies and rhythms, to create the equivalent of an instrumental solo using their voice.- Structure and syllable choice...
but also in many other forms of vocal music. Although such usages do not invoke the technical issues about structure and associability that are of concern in psychology, the essential meaning of the term is the same.
See also
- Nonsense wordNonsense wordA nonsense word, unlike a sememe, may have no definition. If it can be pronounced according to a language's phonotactics, it is a logatome. Nonsense words are used in literature for poetic or humorous effect. Proper names of real or fictional entities are sometimes nonsense words.-See...
- Wug testWug testThe wug test is an experiment in linguistics, created by Jean Berko Gleason in 1958. It was designed as a way to investigate the acquisition of the plural and other inflectional morphemes in English-speaking children....
, which uses nonsense syllables to test morphologicalMorphology (linguistics)In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
knowledge - PseudowordPseudowordA pseudoword is a unit of speech or text that appears to be an actual word in a certain language , while in fact it is not part of the lexicon. Within linguistics, a pseudoword is defined specifically as respecting the phonotactic restrictions of a language...
and LogatomeLogatomeA logatome is an artificial word of one or more syllables which obeys all the phonotactic rules of a language but has no meaning. Examples of English logatomes would be the nonsense words snarp or bluck....