TABLE 1.
Summary of taste responses and their frequency and percentage for four kinds of emotional words.
| Taste (Chinese) | Taste (English) | Frequency | Percentage |
| Negative emotion words | |||
| 苦 | Bitter | 3,587 | 56.73 |
| 酸 | Sour | 935 | 14.79 |
| 辣 | Spicy | 876 | 13.85 |
| No | No | 442 | 6.99 |
| 鹹 | Salty | 304 | 4.81 |
| 澀 | Astringent | 55 | 0.87 |
| 甜 | Sweet | 50 | 0.79 |
| 甘 | Sweet and bitter | 20 | 0.32 |
| 淡 | Bland | 17 | 0.27 |
| 辛 | Pungent | 15 | 0.24 |
| 腥 | Bloody | 10 | 0.16 |
| 醱 | Taste by fermentation | 3 | 0.05 |
| 香 | Savory | 2 | 0.03 |
| 辛辣 | Pungent | 1 | 0.02 |
| 鮮 | Umami | 1 | 0.02 |
| 酸甜 | Sweet and sour | 1 | 0.02 |
| 麻 | Numbing taste | 1 | 0.02 |
| 苦澀 | Bitter and astringent | 1 | 0.02 |
| 鹹苦 | Salty and bitter | 1 | 0.02 |
| 爽 | Refreshing | 1 | 0.02 |
| 緑 | Green | 1 | Invalid |
| Total (valid) | 6,323 | 100 | |
| Negative emotion-laden words | |||
| 苦 | Bitter | 13,352 | 46.99 |
| 辣 | Spicy | 4,599 | 16.19 |
| No | No | 4,264 | 15.01 |
| 酸 | Sour | 2,935 | 10.33 |
| 鹹 | Salty | 1,804 | 6.35 |
| 甜 | Sweet | 789 | 2.78 |
| 腥 | Bloody | 189 | 0.67 |
| 澀 | Astringent | 118 | 0.42 |
| 辛 | Pungent | 96 | 0.34 |
| 甘 | Sweet and bitter | 70 | 0.25 |
| 淡 | Bland | 69 | 0.24 |
| 血腥 | Bloody | 49 | 0.17 |
| 鮮 | Umami | 15 | 0.05 |
| 腥 | Fishy | 11 | 0.04 |
| 麻 | Numbing taste | 10 | 0.04 |
| 爽 | Refreshing | 8 | 0.03 |
| 香 | Savory | 8 | 0.03 |
| 濃 | Rich-flavored | 5 | 0.02 |
| 油膩 | Greasy | 4 | 0.01 |
| 酸辣 | Sour and spicy | 3 | 0.01 |
| 酸甜 | Sweet and sour | 3 | 0.01 |
| 血 | Bloody | 2 | 0.01 |
| 苦澀 | Bitter and astringent | 2 | 0.01 |
| 酦 | Taste by fermentation | 2 | 0.01 |
| 冷 | Cold | 1 | 0.00 |
| 苦辣 | Bitter and spicy | 1 | 0.00 |
| 鮮鹹 | Umami and salty | 1 | 0.00 |
| 餿 | Soured | 1 | 0.00 |
| 薄荷 | Taste of mint | 1 | 0.00 |
| 甘苦 | Sweet and bitter | 1 | 0.00 |
| 臭 | Stink | 25 | Invalid |
| 腥 | Rank-smelling | 17 | Invalid |
| 銹 | Rusty | 1 | Invalid |
| 吱 | Squeak | 1 | Invalid |
| 痛 | Painful | 1 | Invalid |
| Total (valid) | 28,413 | 100 | |
| Positive emotion words | |||
| 甜 | Sweet | 2,874 | 78.27 |
| No | No | 288 | 7.84 |
| 辣 | Spicy | 238 | 6.48 |
| 酸 | Sour | 86 | 2.34 |
| 鹹 | Salty | 60 | 1.63 |
| 苦 | Bitter | 50 | 1.36 |
| 甘 | Sweet and bitter | 34 | 0.93 |
| 鮮 | Umami | 14 | 0.38 |
| 淡 | Bland | 11 | 0.30 |
| 酸甜 | Sweet and sour | 4 | 0.11 |
| 爽 | Refreshing | 3 | 0.08 |
| 辛 | Pungent | 3 | 0.08 |
| 腥 | Bloody | 2 | 0.05 |
| 濃 | Rich-flavored | 2 | 0.05 |
| 辛辣 | Pungent | 1 | 0.03 |
| 香 | Savory | 1 | 0.03 |
| 甜辣 | Sweet and spicy | 1 | 0.03 |
| Total (valid) | 3,672 | 100 | |
| Positive emotion-laden words | |||
| 甜 | Sweet | 13,234 | 64.89 |
| No | No | 3,225 | 15.81 |
| 鹹 | Salty | 1,109 | 5.44 |
| 苦 | Bitter | 840 | 4.12 |
| 酸 | Sour | 717 | 3.52 |
| 辣 | Spicy | 705 | 3.46 |
| 甘 | Sweet and bitter | 240 | 1.18 |
| 鮮 | Umami | 77 | 0.38 |
| 淡 | Bland | 71 | 0.35 |
| 澀 | Astringent | 55 | 0.27 |
| 腥 | Bloody | 36 | 0.18 |
| 爽 | Refreshing | 29 | 0.14 |
| 辛 | Pungent | 16 | 0.08 |
| 酸甜 | Sweet and sour | 12 | 0.06 |
| 香 | Savory | 6 | 0.03 |
| 濃 | Rich-flavored | 6 | 0.03 |
| 甜辣 | Sweet and spicy | 4 | 0.02 |
| 甘苦 | Sweet and bitter | 2 | 0.01 |
| 濃烈 | Rich-flavored | 2 | 0.01 |
| 甘甜 | Sweet and bitter | 1 | 0.00 |
| 油膩 | Greasy | 1 | 0.00 |
| 甜鹹 | Sweet and salty | 1 | 0.00 |
| 蜜糖 | Honey flavor | 1 | 0.00 |
| 冰涼 | Very cold | 1 | 0.00 |
| 薄荷 | Taste of mint | 1 | 0.00 |
| 麻 | Numbing taste | 1 | 0.00 |
| 冷 | Cold | 1 | 0.00 |
| 生 | Fresh | 1 | 0.00 |
| 臭 | Sink | 2 | Invalid |
| Nature | Nature | 1 | Invalid |
| 笨 | Stupid | 1 | Invalid |
| 他 | He | 1 | Invalid |
| Total (valid) | 20,395 | 100 | |
Invalid responses have not been counted for the result on percentage of taste responses. The response “腥(xing)” were translated into three kinds of meanings: fishy, bloody, rank-smelling depend on the stimuli words. For example, “腥(xing)” was translated into “fishy” for “dinner”; “bloody” for “assassin”; “rank-smelling” for “manure”.