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This research aims to analyze the vocabulary and strategies English speakers use to describe olfactory experiences.

March 26, 2026Open Access

What we talk about when we talk about smells: a corpus study of the language of olfaction

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This research aims to analyze the vocabulary and strategies English speakers use to describe olfactory experiences.
Conducted a corpus-driven analysis of fragrance reviews from the Fragrantica website.
Identified key semantic domains related to olfaction.
Analyzed language in relation to non-olfactory sensory descriptors.
Explored the use of connotation and association in olfactory descriptions.
Found that non-olfactory descriptors significantly contribute to olfactory meaning.
Revealed that connotation and association are primary strategies for describing smells.
Indicated that sensory domains are closely linked, not representing metaphorical but rather contiguous perceptions.

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Corpus study investigates olfactory language in English, revealing strategies for describing scents, suggesting new insights into sensory perception.

Kyle Gunn (2026) studied this question.

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Corpus study investigates olfactory language in English, revealing strategies for describing scents, suggesting new insights into sensory perception.