Fig. 3.

(Upper) Histograms of z-transformed rank-order correlations between an attribute score and word frequency for four attributes related to ease of pronunciation: complexity, length, obstruents, and sonorants (n = 232 meanings; SI Appendix). All z scores, P < 1⁻¹⁰. (Lower) Histograms of t scores after controlling for complexity (responses with more words have more sounds). Length remains significant (P < 0.002), while effect sizes are small (average t = −0.21) for obstruents (P = 0.06) and sonorants (P = 0.04). Controlling for length, the effect of obstruents and sonorants disappears (P > 0.35).