Come talk about fun and quirky words in the English Language. Posting is open to all members.
Favorite Word Friday: Sounds like...

All credit for this week's post goes to @fidelity who left a great comment on last week's FWF introducing the concept of sound symbolism:
As @fidelity describes, " words like slick, slip, slake, slurp all have something to do with water or moisture, and therefore... something about the "sl" sound... communicates moisture to us."
I've since learned this is an example of sound clustering (which appears in, but is unique to, each language). It results in the creation of alliterative word groups related to similar concepts, like glitter and glisten or spatter and speckle.
Another theory of sound-as-meaning is iconism, which posits that words use letter sounds or combinations to illustrate a concept. For example: the letter “p” represents active steps in words like stamp, tap and tromp.
I wonder if sound symbolism explains why we sometimes feel certain words ought to mean one thing when their definition is quite the opposite.
Are there letters or sounds you associate with aggression, softness, or activity?
Do certain sound clusters (in any language) immediately come to mind?
BONUS NERDINESS:
Though only 1/2000 people are true synesthetes, humans instinctively create synesthetic connections as evidenced by our use of metaphor and the bouba/kiki effect. It allows us to to describe words as"cutting" or pain as "dull."
This episode of the podcast The Slow Melt also touches on the bouba/kiki effect and how our other senses influence our experience of taste. The first intriguing question: Does a lemon taste “fast or slow?” (Jump to 9:32.)
And finally, in 30 illuminating seconds, Dwight Schrute explains why it's called "murder" and not "mukduk."





Some of the only words I can remember from Scottish Gaelic are fliugh (floo-ey) to describe that it's a wet day and sgothach (sko-ahhck) is cloudy. I feel like they sound like the things they describe.
gruamach also means grumpy and it sounds unpleasant to say.
Those are beautiful words. Gruamach really caught me though, bc according to the linked wikipedia entry, "clustering is language dependent, although closely related languages will have similar clustering relationships."
So perhaps gruamach relates not only to grumpy, but also grouchy, gruff, grumble, gravelly, and grating. (I'm not going to lie, finding sound clusters is pretty fun.)
I think calm and careful and creativity make me think of softness.
That makes sense to me. Calm, especially, seems to sound like exactly what it means.
Oh, this post is so great. I am loving the additional info about synesthesia. I'm really excited to listen to that podcast.
I once knew a synesthete who associated words with tastes/flavours. Interestingly, studies of this particular kind of synesthesia reveal that it's typically the word's sound that triggers the taste association, rather than it's meaning. The quote below is from a report of a study of "lexical-gustatory" synesthetes:
Cool, right?
SO COOL. (I hope you like the podcast. It was a lucky find but curiously apt.) After we talked about this last week I realised I couldn't even come close to talking about all the things I read. Hence the "bonus nerdiness" section!
@Umegaki - this immediately made me think of your comment about the Japanese word pika pika (meaning shiny), and whether it might be an example of sound clustering. Are there other Japanese words that incorporate the same sound(s) that also relate to twinkling or glistening?
It also reminded me of a long-past discussion about bucolic (meaning pastoral) and how I always feel like it sounds too aggressive for its definition.
"Bucolic" is a great example of a word whose sound belies it's meaning. I wonder if some would find connections between harsh, trash, and shriek?
That is a great series of words. My brain immediately responded with "brash" and "shrill."
Haha, stupid bucolic. That word is a jerk.
'Bucolic' comes from the Greek word for cow, or more specifically, for cowherd. It does sound a bit like the sound of a cow mooing.
That is very true. Yet there's always something about it that seems rough (to my subjective ear, ha). And at the same time, (to me) a word like "bellicose" sounds quite pretty, and its meaning isn't pretty at all!
Pika pika in particular, no, I don't believe so. However there is a link between kira kira, which is much the same sort of onomatopoeia, and kirameku, to sparkle/shimmer/shine. Other onomatopoeic words also follow patterns like that, so it may well be sound clustering of a sort!
It's an interesting thing to think about, isn't it? Since @fidelity's comment last week I've been much more conscious of the sound of words (separate from their definitions), and the sound of words in relation to each other (rather than as standalone entities).
It really is interesting! I often think about how sounds relate, and how one can find similar roots in different languages. This is something I'd love to formally study.
I also find I enjoy words in Japanese more or less based on how they sound - sort of like English speakers disliking moist, for example. I wonder if that's also a thing for native Japanese speakers - I may have to ask around...
Haha, moist. I guess I'm one of the few people who don't find it icky, but I also understand the repulsion. One of my personal Most Hated Words is "duration." I don't mind hearing it or reading it, but I hate saying it (so I don't). Language is a strange thing, isn't it? Ubiquitous and personal all at once.
I don't personally dislike moist either, but it does sound...squidgy I suppose? *shrug* So I guess I do understand why people don't like it.
I hate saying a few words - reputable being one because I inevitably pronounce it weird - but I can't say I have any that cause a visceral NOPE reaction to seeing or hearing. (Also, visceral is an awesome word. Love it.)
I've never really understood why people dislike the word 'moist' - I suppose they must dislike it, because survey results quoted online have told us so. ;) Etymologically, 'moist' is related through its Latin derivation to 'musty' and 'mucus', so I suppose there is an inbuilt ick factor.