I always have, ever since I was a little kid. It’s as if each letter and number has a face, and is looking in a specific direction, with a specific mood. For example, upper case A looks friendly and enthusiastic while upper case T is so stern and stoic. Lower case a is looking back at the previous letter to see what it has. Etcetera, etcetera. I seem to remember asking my mother about it when I was very young, and she thought it was completely ridiculous.
Oh definitely. A 3 looks like it has sideways teeth, for some reason. 9 has the corner of her mouth pulled up in a grimace. 6 is fat. y’s head is cocked to the side. R is walking down the street.
So for those who see colors in the letters, are the letters themselves tinted when you look at them? Because to me some of them remind me of a color (e.g. e would be green and so would 3) but I don’t actually see colors when I look at them.
I see the colors in my head–it’s more a perception of color than an actual overlay. When I think of a word, the letters have color, but when I look at one on a page, the colors of the letters don’t change.
My letters and numbers have vague personalities and genders. They don’t have expressions, but I do have a very hazy idea of what they look like. Except for 2. 2 very definitely has a pronounced nose and dark, neat hair.
I actually see the colors, but that’s really rare.
The way I see it, it’s sorta… well, I can tell the letters I’m typing are black. But A is a sort of yellowish black, B is a blueish black, C is a reddish black, etc. If that doesn’t make any sense to you- it’s just as weird to me, and I’m the one seeing it.
The interesting thing regarding letters/numbers and colors is that some letters are very obviously a particular color, yet others seem rather tentative. “A” and “8” are a very pure, primary red; “E” and “3” are definitely a bright yellow-orange; “M” cannot be anything but brown; and “T” is definitely navy blue. But some aren’t that absolute. “H” can appear to be different colors, depending on context and font, but it is always dark. “O” can also change, but it is always pale, sometimes almost white.
By the way, are we allowed to recommend other boards? There’s a forum for synesthetes that I belong to, where people discuss this sort of thing all the time.
I don’t have synesthesia, but letters and numbers do have personalities and associated colors and other characteristics. I was a little bit in love with the letter D and the number 7 as a kid. It wasn’t cheating because they’re pretty much the same guy. I still have trouble with round-shaped numbers being even or more angular ones being odd. Even is pointy and odd is round, and that’s just the way it is.