Words you love because of their sounds

[Thry]

cellar door (with the British [sɛlə: dɔ:])

You'll certainly love Spanish celador, then, specially in dialects that drop final r's and realize the c as /s/.

Classical languages, probably like half of their lexicon O_o:

Greek: deimos, phobos, nyx, styx, thanatos, hypnos, pyr...
Latin: nox, dies, aeternus, arcanus, vir, tenebrae, aqua, ignis, aeris, falx...

I'm positive there are loads more, but these come to my mind now, probably linked by their meanings.

English: low, howl, blaze, harbringer, heaven, malice, menace

[Bristel]

cellar door (with the British [sɛlə: dɔ:])

You'll certainly love Spanish celador, then, specially in dialects that drop final r's and realize the c as /s/.

Classical languages, probably like half of their lexicon O_o:

Greek: deimos, phobos, nyx, styx, thanatos, hypnos, pyr...
Latin: nox, dies, aeternus, arcanus, vir, tenebrae, aqua, ignis, aeris, falx...

I'm positive there are loads more, but these come to my mind now, probably linked by their meanings.

English: low, howl, blaze, harbringer, heaven, malice, menace

Greek and Latin are two favorites of mine. When I started doing a PIE based conlang, I made sure to make it look like a language that fell between the two. Although the "s-mobile" made words like G. "nyx", G. "nipha" and L. "nix" become "sneks" and "snoks", as far as I remember.

Low, howl, blaze, *harbinger, malice and menace are all really cool words. That list sounds like a lexicon from the English translation of Dante's Inferno.

[Skomakar'n]

What? There's definitely a very clear [l] in the word, and even a slight vowel at the end.

Only if you're speaking /kQrEktli:/ as opposed to /k@rE?li/.

Sure, but this particular word sounds a lot more sexy (and a lot more French!) when spoken correctly.

[Astraios]

Sure, but this particular word sounds a lot more sexy (and a lot more French!) when spoken correctly.

I agree.

[Ouagadougou]

More words I like:
German:
Flug
aufgelassen

Latin:
quamquam
quassâre
Basically every q word

Spanish:
cicatriz (especially with a θ)
murciélago
chocar
ganga
avestruz

English:
remora
kiwi
weir
shuffle and its rhymes
hurdy-gurdy

This time, I know I'm in the right thread.

[Thry]

Greek and Latin are two favorites of mine. When I started doing a PIE based conlang, I made sure to make it look like a language that fell between the two. Although the "s-mobile" made words like G. "nyx", G. "nipha" and L. "nix" become "sneks" and "snoks", as far as I remember.

Many Latin words in -x are just great. I wish indo-european were as well attested as Latin is. I wonder if we'd like its real feel? It's a mystery.

Low, howl, blaze, *harbinger, malice and menace are all really cool words. That list sounds like a lexicon from the English translation of Dante's Inferno.

Omg, I was so convinced harbingers brought things. But yea, you are right, even if I like the sound of those words (for example low, bow, flow all sound nice to me), the thematic is amusing to me as well.

I like Japanese neko (cat), which curiously also means "I kill" in latin. (neco there)

[Mr. Z]

Greek and Latin are two favorites of mine. When I started doing a PIE based conlang, I made sure to make it look like a language that fell between the two. Although the "s-mobile" made words like G. "nyx", G. "nipha" and L. "nix" become "sneks" and "snoks", as far as I remember.

Many Latin words in -x are just great. I wish indo-european were as well attested as Latin is. I wonder if we'd like its real feel? It's a mystery.

Low, howl, blaze, *harbinger, malice and menace are all really cool words. That list sounds like a lexicon from the English translation of Dante's Inferno.

Omg, I was so convinced harbingers brought things. But yea, you are right, even if I like the sound of those words (for example low, bow, flow all sound nice to me), the thematic is amusing to me as well.

I like Japanese neko (cat), which curiously also means "I kill" in latin. (neco there)

Stop abusing cats like that! It's illegal!

[Qwynegold]

More words I like:
German:
Flug

Seriously??

[Ouagadougou]

I don't think it has an elegant sound, certainly, but it's definitely amusing to say.

[Qwynegold]

I don't think it has an elegant sound, certainly, but it's definitely amusing to say.

You should have left it in the other thread.

[Izambri]

Greek and Latin are two favorites of mine. When I started doing a PIE based conlang, I made sure to make it look like a language that fell between the two. Although the "s-mobile" made words like G. "nyx", G. "nipha" and L. "nix" become "sneks" and "snoks", as far as I remember.

Many Latin words in -x are just great. I wish indo-european were as well attested as Latin is. I wonder if we'd like its real feel? It's a mystery.

Oh, I love nox noctis.

Also nimbus and nimbōsus. I find them quite onomatopoeic.

And words ending in -or, -ula (-cula, -gula specially) and -ion, among others.

[Bristel]

Greek and Latin are two favorites of mine. When I started doing a PIE based conlang, I made sure to make it look like a language that fell between the two. Although the "s-mobile" made words like G. "nyx", G. "nipha" and L. "nix" become "sneks" and "snoks", as far as I remember.

Many Latin words in -x are just great. I wish indo-european were as well attested as Latin is. I wonder if we'd like its real feel? It's a mystery.

Well, we can choose a reconstruction and speak that out loud, but it's far from accurate. (With all of the h¹ h² and h³ that we are not completely sure about)

Low, howl, blaze, *harbinger, malice and menace are all really cool words. That list sounds like a lexicon from the English translation of Dante's Inferno.

Omg, I was so convinced harbingers brought things. But yea, you are right, even if I like the sound of those words (for example low, bow, flow all sound nice to me), the thematic is amusing to me as well.

I like Japanese neko (cat), which curiously also means "I kill" in latin. (neco there)

ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French herbergere, from herbergier ‘provide lodging for,’ from herberge ‘lodging,’ from Old Saxon heriberga ‘shelter for an army, lodging’ (from heri ‘army’ + a Germanic base meaning ‘fortified place’ ), related to harbor . The term originally denoted a person who provided lodging, later one who went ahead to find lodgings for an army or for a nobleman and his retinue, hence, a herald (mid 16th cent.).

Neko necendam est.

[----]

ORIGIN Middle English : from Old French herbergere

That word right there is one of these awesome sounding words for me. I love words that have a bunch of similar syllables next to each other.

[Ouagadougou]

You should have left it in the other thread.

The thread is called "Words you love because of their sounds", not "Words whose sounds are mellifluous and pleasing to hear". The two are not necessarily equivalent.

[finlay]

Exactly, which is why my only contribution is Scheveningen verschuimt or whatever the Dutch shibboleths were.

[Jipí]

from Old Saxon heriberga ‘shelter for an army, lodging’ (from heri ‘army’ + a Germanic base meaning ‘fortified place’ ), related to harbor . The term originally denoted a person who provided lodging, later one who went ahead to find lodgings for an army or for a nobleman and his retinue, hence, a herald (mid 16th cent.).

And guess what the modern German word is:

Herberge /ˈhɛɐ̯bɛɐ̯ɡə/

[Acid Badger]

from Old Saxon heriberga ‘shelter for an army, lodging’ (from heri ‘army’ + a Germanic base meaning ‘fortified place’ ), related to harbor . The term originally denoted a person who provided lodging, later one who went ahead to find lodgings for an army or for a nobleman and his retinue, hence, a herald (mid 16th cent.).

And guess what the modern German word is:

Herberge /ˈhɛɐ̯bɛɐ̯ɡə/

So Heer is related to Herberge? That makes sense.

[Thry]

Stop abusing cats like that! It's illegal!

I'll face my punishment on Caturday when lolcats reign.

Neko necendam est.

Omg. Poor cat. Thanks for the etymology.

Oh, I love nox noctis.

It's nice. I kept it as noct in my conlang.

Also nimbus and nimbōsus. I find them quite onomatopoeic.

And words ending in -or, -ula (-cula, -gula specially) and -ion, among others.

Those are nice. By the way, isn't "ion" -io in the nominative actually (e.g. destructio), or are you thinking about something else?

[Thry]

Dutch u and its possessive uw. Or do I love that because of its simplicity?

[Izambri]

Also nimbus and nimbōsus. I find them quite onomatopoeic.

And words ending in -or, -ula (-cula, -gula specially) and -ion, among others.

Those are nice. By the way, isn't "ion" -io in the nominative actually (e.g. destructio), or are you thinking about something else?

I was thinking about Greek, actually. XD

[Qwynegold]

You should have left it in the other thread.

The thread is called "Words you love because of their sounds", not "Words whose sounds are mellifluous and pleasing to hear". The two are not necessarily equivalent.

Now you've lost me. But whatever...

And guess what the modern German word is:

Herberge /ˈhɛɐ̯bɛɐ̯ɡə/

In Swedish härbärge means homeless shelter.

[Izambri]

Herberge, of course!!!

I know it reminded me of a close word, but I wasn't suspecting it was so close: Catalan alberg, which according to Alcover-Moll comes from Old High-German heriberga or Gothic *haribergo (REW 4045). In Commonitorium Palladii (10th century Italian document) appears the latinized form alipergum "camp" (Rom. Forsch., vi, 209).

[bulbaquil]

Curiously, many of my favorite-sounding words tend to start with B.

- barley
- bracken
- barracks
- belligerent
- brisket
- blogosphere

I similarly like the sound of the French Revolutionary Calendar month Brumaire. Sadly, my birthday falls in Frimaire, which doesn't sound anywhere near as pleasant.

Non-B words that I like the sound of: deleterious, quality, mellifluous, divergence, stump, risky, whiskey, washboard, oligarch, plethora. The Italian word ghiaccio and the German state of Niedersachsen also sound good to me.

[Jipí]

Niedersachsen also sound[s] good to me.

In all its (relative) consonant-clustery glory? [ˈniːdɐˌzaksn̩]

[Thry]

Herberge, of course!!!

I know it reminded me of a close word, but I wasn't suspecting it was so close: Catalan alberg, which according to Alcover-Moll comes from Old High-German heriberga or Gothic *haribergo (REW 4045). In Commonitorium Palladii (10th century Italian document) appears the latinized form alipergum "camp" (Rom. Forsch., vi, 209).

That means also Spanish albergue is related