Phonaesthetics (also spelled phonesthetics in North America) is the study of beauty and pleasantness associated with the sounds of certain words or parts of words. The term was first used in this sense, perhaps by during the mid-20th century and derives . Speech sounds have many aesthetic qualities, some of which are subjectively regarded as euphonious (pleasing) or cacophonous (displeasing). Phonaesthetics remains a budding and often subjective field of study, with no scientifically or otherwise formally established definition; today, it mostly exists as a marginal branch of

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

phonetics Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...

, or poetics. More broadly, the British linguist

David Crystal David Crystal, (born 6 July 1941) is a British linguist, academic, and prolific author best known for his works on linguistics and the English language. Family Crystal was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, on 6 July 1941 after his mother had ...

has regarded phonaesthetics as the study of "phonaesthesia" (i.e.,

sound symbolism In linguistics, sound symbolism is the resemblance between sound and meaning. It is a form of linguistic iconicity. For example, the English word ''ding'' may sound similar to the actual sound of a bell. Linguistic sound may be perceived as simi ...

and phonesthemes): that not just words but even certain sound combinations carry meaning. For example, he shows that English speakers tend to associate unpleasantness with the sound ''sl-'' in such words as ''sleazy'', ''slime'', ''slug'', and ''slush'', or they associate repetition lacking any particular shape with in such words as ''chatter'', ''glitter'', ''flutter'', and ''shatter''.

Euphony and cacophony

Euphony is the effect of sounds being perceived as pleasant, rhythmical, lyrical, or harmonious. Cacophony is the effect of sounds being perceived as harsh, unpleasant, chaotic, and often discordant; these sounds are perhaps meaningless and jumbled together. Compare with consonance and dissonance in music. In poetry, for example, euphony may be used deliberately to convey comfort, peace, or serenity, while cacophony may be used to convey discomfort, pain, or disorder. This is often furthered by the combined effect of the meaning beyond just the sounds themselves. The

California Federation of Chaparral Poets California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...

uses

Emily Dickinson Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886) was an American poet. Little-known during her life, she has since been regarded as one of the most important figures in American poetry. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massac ...

's "A Bird Came Down the Walk" as an example of euphonious poetry, one passage being "...Oars divide the Ocean, / Too silver for a seam" and John Updike's "Player Piano" as an example of cacophonous poetry, one passage being "My stick fingers click with a snicker / And, chuckling, they knuckle the keys".

Research

's 1995 paper "Phonaesthetically Speaking" explores lists, created by reader polls and individual writers, of English words that are commonly regarded as sounding beautiful, to search for any patterns within the words' phonetics. Frequently recurring example words in these lists include ''gossamer'', ''melody'', and ''tranquil''. Crystal's finding, assuming a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Received Pronunciation Received Pronunciation (RP) is the accent traditionally regarded as the standard and most prestigious form of spoken British English. For over a century, there has been argument over such questions as the definition of RP, whether it is geog ...

accent, is that words perceived as pretty tend to have a majority of a wide array of criteria; here are some major ones: *Three or more syllables (e.g., ''goss·a·mer'' and ''mel·o·dy'') *Stress on the first syllable (e.g., ''góssamer'' and ''mélody'') * is the most common consonant

phoneme In phonology and linguistics, a phoneme () is a unit of sound that can distinguish one word from another in a particular language. For example, in most dialects of English, with the notable exception of the West Midlands and the north-wes ...

, followed by , then a huge drop-off before other consonants (e.g., ''luminous'' contains the first four) *Short vowels (e.g., the schwa, followed in order by the vowels in ''lid'', ''led'', and ''lad'') are favored over long vowels and diphthongs (e.g., as in ''lied'', ''load'', ''loud'') *Three or more manners of articulation (with approximant consonants the most common, followed by stop consonants, and so on) A perfect example word, according to these findings, is ''tremulous''. Crystal also suggests the invented words and , which he notes are similar to the types of names often employed in the marketing of pharmaceutical drugs.

''Cellar door''

The English compound

noun A noun () is a word that generally functions as the name of a specific object or set of objects, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, or ideas.Example nouns for: * Living creatures (including people, alive, ...

''cellar door'' has been widely cited as an example of a word or phrase that is beautiful purely in terms of its sound (i.e., euphony) without inherent regard for its meaning. The phenomenon of ''cellar door'' being regarded as euphonious appears to have begun in the very early twentieth century, first attested in the 1903 novel ''Gee-Boy'' by the

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

scholar Cyrus Lauron Hooper. It has been promoted as beautiful-sounding by various writers; linguist

Geoffrey Nunberg Geoffrey Nunberg (June 1, 1945– August 11, 2020) was an American lexical semantician and author. In 2001 he received the Linguistics, Language, and the Public Interest Award from the Linguistic Society of America for his contributions to Natio ...

specifically names the writers

H. L. Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...

in 1920;

David Allan Robertson David Allan Robertson (October 17, 1880 – July 15, 1961) was an American academic who served as the 5th president of Goucher College. He was also a professor at the University of Chicago in English and drama. Early life Robertson was born on Oc ...

in 1921;

Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. From a conflicted and unhap ...

, Hendrik Willem van Loon, and

Albert Payson Terhune Albert Payson Terhune (December 21, 1872 – February 18, 1942) was an American author, dog breeder, and journalist. He was popular for his novels relating the adventures of his beloved collies and as a breeder of collies at his Sunnybank Kenne ...

in the 1930s; George Jean Nathan in 1935;

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

in a lecture, "

English and Welsh "English and Welsh" is J. R. R. Tolkien's inaugural O'Donnell Memorial Lecture of 21 October 1955. The lecture sheds light on Tolkien's conceptions of the connections of race, ethnicity, and language. Publication It was first published in ''An ...

", delivered in 1955 (in which he described his reverence for the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

and about which he said "''cellar doors'' .e. such beautiful wordsare extraordinarily frequent"); and C. S. Lewis in 1963. Furthermore, the phenomenon itself is touched upon in many sources and media, including a 1905 issue of '' Harper's Magazine'' by

William Dean Howells William Dean Howells (; March 1, 1837 – May 11, 1920) was an American realist novelist, literary critic, and playwright, nicknamed "The Dean of American Letters". He was particularly known for his tenure as editor of ''The Atlantic Monthly'', ...

, the 1967 novel ''

Why Are We in Vietnam? ''Why Are We In Vietnam?'' (''WWVN'') is a 1967 novel by the American author Norman Mailer. It focuses on a hunting trip to the Brooks Range in Alaska where a young man is brought by his father, a wealthy businessman who works for a company that ...

'' by Norman Mailer, a 1991 essay by Jacques Barzun, the 2001

psychological drama Psychological drama or psychodrama is a sub-genre of drama that places emphasis on psychological elements. It often overlaps with other genres such as crime, fantasy, black comedy, and science fiction, and it is closely related with the psychologic ...

film ''

Donnie Darko ''Donnie Darko'' is a 2001 American science fiction psychological thriller film written and directed by Richard Kelly and produced by Flower Films. It stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Mary McDonnell, ...

'', and a scene in the 2019 movie ''Tolkien''. The origin of ''cellar door'' being considered as an inherently beautiful or musical phrase is mysterious. However, in 2014, Nunberg speculated that the phenomenon might have arisen from Philip Wingate and Henry W. Petrie's 1894 hit song "I Don't Want to Play in Your Yard", which contains the lyric "You'll be sorry when you see me sliding down our cellar door." Following the song's success, "slide down my cellar door" became a popular catchphrase up until the 1930s or 1940s to mean engaging in a type of friendship or camaraderie reminiscent of childhood innocence. A 1914 essay about

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...

's choice of the word "Nevermore" in his 1845 poem "

The Raven "The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a myst ...

" as being based on euphony may have spawned an unverified legend, propagated by syndicated columnists like Frank Colby in 1949 and L. M. Boyd in 1979, that ''cellar door'' was Poe's favorite phrase. Tolkien, Lewis, and others have suggested that ''cellar door'' auditory beauty becomes more apparent the more the word is dissociated from its literal meaning, for example, by using alternative spellings such as ''Selador'', ''Selladore'', '' Celador'', ''Selidor'' (an island name in Ursula K. LeGuin's

Earthsea ''The Earthsea Cycle'', also known as ''Earthsea'', is a series of high fantasy books written by the American writer Ursula K. Le Guin. Beginning with ''A Wizard of Earthsea'' (1968), '' The Tombs of Atuan'', (1970) and '' The Farthest Shore'' ...

), or ''Salidar'' (

Robert Jordan James Oliver Rigney Jr. (October 17, 1948 – September 16, 2007), better known by his pen name Robert Jordan," Robert Jordan" was the name of the protagonist in the 1940 Hemingway novel ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'', though this is not how the n ...

's ''

Wheel of Time The wheel of time or wheel of history (also known as ''Kalachakra'') is a concept found in several religious traditions and philosophies, notably religions of Indian origin such as Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, which regard time as c ...

'' series,) which take on the quality of an enchanting name (and some of which suggest a specifically standard British

pronunciation Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect ("correct pronunciation") or simply the way a particular ...

of the word: ), which is homophonous with "sell a daw."

Notes

References

{{reflist Linguistics Phonology Phonotactics

Euphony and cacophony

Research

''Cellar door''

See also

Notes

References