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Beautiful-sounding words float like gossamer
The Christian Science Monitor ^
| March 26, 2020
| Melissa Mohr, Correspondent
Posted on 04/03/2020 7:46:27 AM PDT by Jagermonster
It turns out that the words that English speakers find pleasing are more like papillon and less like Aschenputtel, according to phonaesthetics.
ome languages have beautiful words for butterfly: papillon (French), mariposa (Spanish), farfalla (Italian). In German, its Schmetterling. Cinderella gets names fit for a princess in these languages, too: Cendrillon (French), Cenerentola (Italian), Cenicienta (Spanish). In German, shes Aschenputtel. I heard these examples recently in a series of viral videos: How German Sounds Compared to Other Languages. The videos imply that German sounds harsh compared with the Romance languages. This got me thinking, what are the most beautiful-sounding words in English?
It turns out that the words that English speakers find pleasing are more like papillon and less like Aschenputtel, according to phonaesthetics, the study of the aesthetic properties of sound. Ideally, phonaesthetics investigates sound irrespective of meaning, though of course in practice that is difficult to do. When classics professor Robert Wolverton surveys his students, he finds that they often rank mother highly, even though, as he says, Its not really a beautiful sound. But, its something that everyone has such a high regard for.
So which patterns turn words into music to our ears? Linguist David Crystal has identified some characteristics. Beautiful words often have three or more syllables, with stress on the first syllable; they are dactylic, like Professor Crystals favorite, tremulous. They frequently have the consonant sounds l, m, s, and n, but almost never contain the zh from casual or the th from think, for example.
Professor Crystal provides an interesting thought experiment to test our preferences. If you were piloting a spaceship toward an alien planet, and you knew nothing about it except that it was populated by aliens known as [
]
(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...
TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: aschenputtel; papillon
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To: Lisbon1940
21
posted on
04/04/2020 11:32:47 AM PDT
by
Don W
(When blacks riot, neighbourhoods and cities burn. When whites riot, nations and continents burn.)
To: plain talk
22
posted on
04/04/2020 11:36:03 AM PDT
by
Sirius Lee
(They are openly stating that they intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live.)
To: Savage Beast; SaveFerris
Hey, I know a little German, he's sitting over there!
23
posted on
04/04/2020 11:39:36 AM PDT
by
dfwgator
(Endut! Hoch Hech!)
To: dfwgator
Nein, nicht deutscher, sondern amerikaner, aber ich habe mehrere Jahre in Deutschland gelebt.
Ich liebte es!
24
posted on
04/04/2020 2:46:16 PM PDT
by
Savage Beast
(There is no limit to the heights of heroism and saintliness to which people can ascend.)
To: Jagermonster
We can turn to most any page in a Shakespeare portfolio and find spectacularly beautiful words and phrases. As I get older, I appreciate these works more and more (particularly in this Age of Text: LOL; GFY; WTH ....)
25
posted on
04/04/2020 2:48:52 PM PDT
by
glennaro
To: glennaro
The pillars of the English language are the King James Bible and Shakespeare.
26
posted on
04/04/2020 2:56:47 PM PDT
by
xp38
To: xp38
So very true. I knew this about the Bible since I was able to read; Shakespeare took a bit longer! Cheers! & may God’s blessings be upon you, my FRiend.
27
posted on
04/04/2020 3:09:48 PM PDT
by
glennaro
To: dfwgator
I wanted to do that one but was in too much of a hurry today.
So.....GOOD JOB!!!
28
posted on
04/04/2020 10:26:05 PM PDT
by
SaveFerris
(Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
To: dfwgator
I hate it when words sound “tinny”!
29
posted on
04/08/2020 6:36:22 AM PDT
by
Alas Babylon!
(The prisons do not fill themselves. Get moving, Barr!)
To: Alas Babylon!
I hate it when words sound tinny! *SCREAM*
30
posted on
04/08/2020 6:38:33 AM PDT
by
dfwgator
(Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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