Words of the Month - Most Beautiful Words

         Beauty being in the ear of the be-hearer, any arguments about the most beautiful words in the language are going to be purely subjective.  When I say “in the language,” of course I mean any given language, but since different languages have different phonetic systems, their speakers are bound to have different judgements about what sounds the most mellifluous.  I will say that one of my favorite words is the Spanish el tenedor, which I consider to be noble and heroic-sounding.  My favorite word in German may be zurück, which is fun to say, like whipping around a pole on ice skates.

        Focussing on English, however, many writers and linguists have put forth their opinions about the most beautiful words in our language.  These include tremulous, murmuring, radiance, ephemeral, mellifluous itself, and the famous cellar door.  Linguist David Crystal put together a matrix of ten criteria that he claimed contributed to a word’s auditory appeal.  These include: 3 syllables, with the stress on the first, use of m and l, and avoidance of certain consonants (such as h, g, j, ch, sh, th).  Crystal ranked tremulous on top, but also gave an example of a word that failed on every one of his criteria: zoo.  I disagree that this word is particularly displeasing.  It may not be pretty, but it’s hardly ugly, either.  (For the ugliest word in the English language I have to nominate puberty.)  It’s also worth noting that some words that may not be beautiful, are nonetheless delightful to say, such as kerfuffle, nincompoop, gargantuan, and grinch.

        The other point about beauty is that even if we frame this as being a purely aesthetic question, people find it almost impossible to ignore the meanings of words.  For that reason, most of the words on these lists have positive meanings to reinforce their positive sounds.  Cellar door is more neutral than most, and one of the few truly negative-meaning words that made one list is nefarious.  Demonstrating this even more strongly, according to a 2004 survey conducted by The British Council (among non-English speakers, interestingly) the most beautiful word in English is mother.  Mother is certainly a wonderful concept, but I can’t say I find the sound of the word particularly euphonious.

        So what are my choices of euphonious words?  At the top of my list has long been clarity.  Although Crystal might claim that the hard c and t disqualify it, my own opinion is that their sharpness adds a little sparkle that’s more pleasing than the undifferentiated blandness of something like murmuring.  (That may also explain the appeal of a nonsense word that has currency in our family: skibbledee.   Although perhaps that belongs more on the list of fun words than truly beautiful words.)  I do also like cellar door and ephemeral that have been mentioned already.

        This question at its most basic is simply an entertaining novelty.  As a poet, however, the sounds of words can be just as important as their meanings, and picking the right words definitely includes consideration of their syllables, stresses, and sounds.  That’s why I love it so much that English has so many synonyms, allowing me to rummage through all sorts of varied options when arranging words into a poem.

        What words do you consider to be the most beautiful?  Do you have certain sounds that you love (or hate)?  How much does the meaning influence you?  Do share your favorites!

[Picture: El Tenedor, rubber block print by AEGNydam, 2023 (Image from NydamPrints.com);

Closing Doors, reduction linocut by Lori Biwer Stewart (Image from the artist’s Etsy shop Lori.Biwer.Stewart.)]