A comparison between Japanese and Chinese adjectives which express auditory impressions

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1 A comparison between Japanese and Chinese adjectives which express auditory impressions Shin-ichiro Iwamiya and Mingzhi Zhan Department of Acoustic Design, Kyushyu Institute of Design, 4-9-1, Shiobaru, Minami-ku, Fukuoka, 815 Japan (Received 18 December 1996) A verbal rating experiment on timbre was conducted to compare the Japanese and Chinese adjectives which express auditory impressions. The auditory impression of various kinds of musical sounds was measured by a semantic differential method. Japanese scales were used for the Japanese subjects, and Chinese scales were used for the Chinese subjects. The scales used for both groups had the same literal meanings. The obtained data were analyzed by principal components analysis. The factors of sharpness, cleanness, and potency are obtained for the Japanese and Chinese scales. Most of Japanese and Chinese adjectives having the same literal meanings express similar auditory impressions. However, the pleasantness of sound has a different meaning in both languages. For the Japanese language, the pleasantness is independent from the basic three auditory factors. For the Chinese language, the pleasantness is proportional to the sharpness. Furthermore, in some other adjectives having the same literal meanings, differences of the auditory meanings are observed. We should take care when comparing the studies on verbal attributes of timbre in different languages. Keywords: Timbre, Cross-cultural study, Semantic differential method, Japanese, Chinese PACS number: Jh 1. INTRODUCTION Timbre is a multi-dimensional quality of sound. The multi-dimensional feature of timbre is often characterized by verbal attributes. Actually, we use many adjectives to express impressions of timbre; for example, sharp, bright, rough, and powerful. However, in different languages, the adjectives having the same literal meanings may express different auditory impressions. To compare the verbal attributes of timbre internationally, a crosscultural study is needed. There have been several studies on the adjectives expressing impressions of timbre using a semantic differential technique (Solomon, 1958; Sone et al., 1962; Kitamura et al., 1968, 1978; Bismarck, 1974a; Gabrielsson and Sjogren, 1979). However, little has been done to compare different languages under the same listening conditions. The purpose of the present study is to compare Japanese and Chinese adjectives which express auditory impressions. We conducted a semanticdifferential-rating experiment of the reproduced sounds for Japanese and Chinese scales. 2. EXPERIMENTAL METHOD The sound stimuli were 24-music excerpts from CDs on the market. Their duration was 10 to 15 s. They were presented by an optical-magnetic disc recorder (AKAI DD1000) which was controlled by a computer via a MIDI interface. The sound stimuli were reproduced from loudspeakers. The impressions of the reproduced sounds were measured by 18 bipolar, 7-step, semantic differential scales. Japanese scales were used for the Japanese subjects, and Chinese scales were used for the Chinese subjects. The scales used for both groups had the same literal meanings. Tables 1 and 2

2 Table 1 Japanese semantic differential scales and their factor loadings. Table 2 Chinese semantic differential scales and their factor loadings. show these scales. The Japanese scales were selected from the previous studies on the verbal attributes of timbre in Japan (Sone et al., 1962; Kitamura et al., 1978). The three Chinese students of a Japanese university translated these scales into Chinese. At that time, they referred to the study of Namba et al. (1991). There were 10 Japanese subjects, aged 21 to 25 years old, and 10 Chinese subjects, aged 21 to 33. They were native speakers of their respective languages. Each sound stimulus was reproduced repeatedly during the rating experiment. The rating value (1 to 7) was inputted into the computer by the subjects. After the subjects rated all the scales, the next stimulus was reproduced.

3 S. IWAMIYA and M. ZHAN: ADJECTIVES EXPRESSING AUDITORY IMPRESSIONS 3. PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS OF EACH RATING EXPERIMENT The mean ratings for each sound stimulus for each scale were calculated for each subject group. From the mean rating matrix of 18 scales ~24 sound stimuli, the correlation coefficients between all the combinations of the scales were obtained for each group. Each set of correlation coefficient matrix (18 ~18) was applied to principal components analysis (PCA) (Shiba, 1972). The scales were taken as variables. A four-factor solution was chosen for the Japanese data. This solution accounts for 90.7% of the total variance in ratings. For the Chinese data, a three-factor solution was chosen. This solution accounts for 86.1% of the total variance in ratings. Table 1 shows the factor loadings of the Japanese scales on each factor. The scales, such as distinctvague and sharp-dull, have high loadings on the first factor. The scales, such as clear-muddy and cleandirty, have high loadings on the second factor. The scales, such as rich-poor and extended-narrow, have high loadings on the third factor. On the fourth factor, only the scale of unpleasant-pleasant has a high loading. The Japanese factors are named sharpness, cleanness, potency (including spaciousness), and pleasantness from the scales having high loads on a particular factor. Table 2 shows the factor loadings of Chinese scales on each factor. Similar to the Japanese results, the scales, such as distinct-vague and sharpdull, have high loadings on the first factor. Also, the scales, such as clear-muddy and clean-dirty, have high loadings on the second factor. The scales, such as rich-poor and extended-narrow, have high loadings on the third factor. Therefore, similar to the first three Japanese factors, the Chinese factors are referred to as sharpness, cleanness, and potency (including spaciousness). The factors of sharpness, cleanness, and potency are usually obtained by the semantic differential experiments of timbre in Japan (Sone et al., 1962; Kitamura et al, 1968, 1978). The present results show that these factors are obtained for both the Japanese and Chinese data. The verbal attributes of timbre in Japanese and Chinese basically have the Japanese PCA results is the existence of the factor of pleasantness. The pleasantness factor is obtained only from the Japanese data, and only the scale of unpleasant-pleasant has a high loading on this factor. The Chinese unpleasant-pleasant scale has a high loading as regards sharpness. For the other three factors, although there are some differences between these two languages, the loadings of each scale on each factor are very similar. We can compare the auditory meanings of the Japanese and Chinese adjectives by the differences in factor loadings of the scales shown in Tables 1 and 2. However, exactly speaking, the factors in Tables 1 and those in Table 2 are not the same. So, from these tables, we cannot compare the adjectives of the two languages in detail. To compare the meanings of Japanese and Chinese adjectives in the same factor space, both rating data were applied to principal components analysis together. 4. PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS OF BOTH RATING DATA TOGETHER In this analysis, the Japanese and Chinese scales, having the same literal meanings, were different variables. The mean rating matrix of 36 scales ~ 24 sound stimuli was the original data of this analysis. The correlation coefficient matrix between the scales (36 ~36) was applied to principal components analysis. We chose a four-factor solution. Table 3 shows the factor loadings of the Japanese and Chinese scales regarding each factor. This solution accounts for 86.2% of the total variance in ratings. The factor loadings of each scale on each factor are similar to those shown in Tables 1 and 2. These factors are almost the same as the factors obtained by PCA of each country's data. The factors are referred to as sharpness, cleanness, potency (including spaciousness), and pleasantness. The first three factors are the ones usually obtained (Sone et al., 1962; Kitamura et al., 1968, 1978). Therefore, the results of this analysis seem to be reliable. Furthermore, as a quantitative criterion of similarity of the auditory meanings between the Japanese and Chinese adjectives having the same literal meanings, the correlation coefficients between the rating values of each language's scales are shown same property. in Table 3. The major difference between the Chinese and The scale of unpleasant-pleasant shows the lowest

4 Table 3 Principal components analysis of Japanese and Chinese data together (Semantic differential scales and their factor loadings, and the correlation coefficients between the rating values of each language's scales). correlation coefficient (0.258). This correlation coefficient is not statistically significant. In this scale, a clear difference in the factor loadings is shown. The Japanese and Chinese scales of unpleasant-pleasant have different auditory meanings. Only the Japanese scale of unpleasant-pleasant has a high loading on the factor of pleasantness. In Japanese, pleasantness is independent from the other three factors. Pleasantness may represent the total evaluation of sound quality of the reproduced sounds. So, it is likely that pleasantness is independent from the other factors. However, the Chinese scale of unpleasantpleasant has a low loading on the pleasantness factor, and a high loading on the sharpness factor. There is a linear relationship between pleasantness and sharpness in the Chinese data. The Chinese subjects rated sharp sounds as pleasant. The next lowest correlations are shown in the scales of heavy-light (0.380) and rich-poor (0.378). These scales also show the differences in factor load-

5 S. IWAMIYA and M. ZHAN: ADJECTIVES EXPRESSING AUDITORY IMPRESSIONS ings. The Japanese scales of heavy-light and richpoor have high loadings on the sharpness factor. However, the same Chinese scales have low loadings on the sharpness. The sharpness is generally related to the acoustic energy of high frequency region (Bismarck, 1974 b). The Japanese scales of heavy-light and rich-poor are related to the acoustic energy of the high frequency region. However, Chinese heavy-light and rich-poor are not related to the high frequency energy. Additionally, we can see some differences in factor loadings of the other scales between the languages. However, the correlation coefficients are statistically significant at very high levels (less than ) among the other 15 scales. This tendency shows that most of the auditory adjectives in both languages basically express the same auditory impressions. By the way, there are no negative correlations. If a correlation coefficient was a minus value, the meanings of Japanese and Chinese adjectives are the opposite. However, there are no such cases. 5. CONCLUSION The factors of sharpness, cleanness, and potency (including spaciousness) are obtained by the principal components analysis of a verbal rating experiment on timbre for Japanese and Chinese. These factors are usually obtained by similar experiments for Japanese. These basic factors are also shown in Chinese verbal attributes of timbre. These three auditory factors have the same characters for both languages. However, the pleasantness of sound has a different meaning in both languages. For the Japanese language, the pleasantness is independent from the basic three auditory factors. For the Chinese language, the pleasantness is proportional to the sharpness. Furthermore, in some other adjectives having the same literal meanings, differences of the auditory meanings are observed. For example, the acoustic energy in the high frequency region affects the rating value on the semantic differential scales of heavylight and rich-poor in Japanese. However, it does not in Chinese. We should take care when comparing attributes of timbre in different languages. ACKNOWLEDGMENT the verbal The authors would like to thank Youko Yamaga for her cooperation in the present work. REFERENCES von Bismarck, G. (1974 a). "Timbre of steady sounds: A factorial investigation of its verbal attributes," Acustica 30, von Bismarck, G. (1974 b). "Sharpness as an attribute of timbre of steady sounds," Acustica 30, Gabrielsson, A. and Sjogren, H. (1979). "Perceived sound quality of sound-reproducing systems," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 65, Namba, S., Kuwano, S., Hashimoto, T., Berglund, B., Rui, Z. D., Schick, A., Hoege, H., and Florentine, M. (1991). "Verbal expression of emotional impression of sound: A cross-cultural study," J. Acoust. Soc. Jpn. (E) 12, Kitamura, O., Namba, S., and Matsumoto, R. (1968). "Factor analytical research of tone colour," Proc. 6th ICA, A Kitamura, O., Ni-i, S., Kuriyama, J., and Masuda, N. (1978). "The factor analytical research on tone color for the youth of today-in case of monophonic sound-," Tech. Rep. Hear. Acoust. Soc. Jpn. H (in Japanese). Shiba, S. (1972). Factor Analysis (University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo), pp (in Japanese). Solomon, L. N. (1958). "Semantic approach to the perception of complex sounds," J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 30, Sone, T., Kido, K., and Nimura, T. (1962). "Factor analysis of descriptive adjectives for evaluation of sounds," J. Acoust. Soc. Jpn. (J) 18, (in Japanese).