Soundscape descriptors in eighteen languages: Translation and validation through listening experiments
Francesco Aletta, Andrew Mitchell, Tin Oberman, Jian Kang, Sara Khelil, Tallal Abdel Karim Bouzir, Djihed Berkouk, Hui Xie, Yuan Zhang, Ruining Zhang, Xinhao Yang, Min Li, Kristian Jambrošić, Tamara Zaninović, Kirsten van den Bosch, Tamara C. Lühr, Nicolas B. Orlik, Darragh W. Fitzpatrick, Anastasios Sarampalis, Pierre Aumond, Catherine Lavandier, Cleopatra Christina Moshona, Steffen Lepa, André Fiebig, Nikolaos M. Papadakis, Georgios Ε. Stavroulakis, Anugrah Sabdono Sudarsono, Joko Sarwono, Giuseppina Emma Puglisi, F Jafari, Arianna Astolfi, Louena Shtrepi, Koji Nagahata, Hyun In Jo, Jin Yong Jeon, Bhan Lam, Julia Chieng, Kenneth Ooi, Joo Young Hong, Sónia Monteiro Antunes, Sónia Alves, Maria Luiza de Ulhoa Carvalho, Ranny Loureiro Xavier Nascimento Michalski, Pablo Kogan, Jerónimo Vida Manzano, Rafael García Quesada, Enrique Suárez Silva, José Antonio Almagro Pastor, Mats E. Nilsson, Östen Axelsson, Woon‐Seng Gan, Karn N. Watcharasupat, Sureenate Jaratjarungkiat, Zhen-Ting Ong, Papatya Nur Dökmeci Yörükoğlu, Uğur Beyza Erçakmak Osma, Thu Lan Nguyen
Abstract
This paper presents the outcomes of the “Soundscape Attributes Translation Project” (SATP), an international initiative addressing the critical research gap in soundscape descriptors translations for cross-cultural studies. Focusing on eighteen languages – namely: Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and Vietnamese – the study employs a four-step procedure to evaluate the reliability and cross-cultural validity of translated soundscape descriptors. The study introduces a three-tier confidence level system (Low, Medium, High) based on “adjusted angles”, which are a measure proposed to correct the soundscape circumplex model (i.e., the pleasant-eventful space proposed in the ISO 12913 series) of a given language. Results reveal that most languages successfully maintain the quasi-circumplex structure of the original soundscape model, ensuring robust cross-cultural validity. English, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Croatian, Dutch, German, Greek, Indonesian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish achieve a “High” confidence level. French, Japanese, Korean, Malay, Portuguese, and Vietnamese demonstrate varying confidence levels, highlighting the importance of the preliminary translation. This research significantly contributes to standardized cross-cultural methodologies in soundscape perception research, emphasizing the pivotal role of adjusted angles within the soundscape circumplex model in ensuring the accuracy of dimensions (i.e., attributes) locations. The SATP initiative offers insights into the complex interplay of language and meaning in the perception of environmental sounds, opening avenues for further cross-cultural soundscape research.