phonæstheme Linguistics.
(ˈfəʊnɪsθiːm)
Also phonaestheme, phonestheme.
[f. phone n.1 + æsthetic a. and n. + -eme.]
A phoneme or group of phonemes with recognizable semantic associations due to recurrent appearance in words of similar meaning.
| 1930 J. R. Firth Speech vi. 50 The slack etymeme belongs to a much bigger group of habits we may call the sl phonæstheme. Ibid. vi. 53 The habit background of wirl..probably includes the tw and irl, -url phonæsthemes. 1946 Word II. 83 Phonestheme is defined as a phoneme or cluster of phonemes shared by a group of words which also have in common some element of meaning or function, tho [sic] the words may be etymologically unrelated. 1957 Gen. Linguistics II. 55 Previous studies have erred in attempting to separate the long consonant phonesthemes from the other phonesthemes of the language. 1969 Language XLV. 284 The term ‘phonaestheme’ has been used, but it seems to mean different things for those who have used it. 1972 M. L. Samuels Linguistic Evol. iii. 46 The phonaestheme /sl-/ may be assigned the values ‘slippery’ or ‘falling’ in slide, slip, slime, slush..; and it may also be assigned the closely related values ‘inactive’, ‘degenerate’ or ‘morally worthless’ in slow, sloth, sleep(y), slumber, slack, slouch, [etc.]. 1974 Amer. Speech 1971 XLVI. 129 The word-initiating segments sn- and sl- (as in snit and slit), which, because they are not readily identifiable as morphemes or other grammatical units, are often referred to as ‘phonesthemes’. 1977 Word 1972 XXVIII. 305 Phonesthemes are considered to have meaning through their occurrence in words of a particular meaning. |
Hence phonæsthesia (fəʊnɪsˈθiːsɪə, -zɪə) [æsthesia], phonæsthesis (fəʊnɪsˈθiːsɪs, -zɪs) [æsthesis], sound symbolism; the use of phonæsthemes; phonæsthetic (fəʊnɪsˈθɛtɪk) [æsthetic a.] a., of or pertaining to phonæsthemes; phonæsˈthetically adv.
| 1930 J. R. Firth Speech vi. 52 The phonæsthetic habits..are much more than ‘blends’..and are of general importance in speech. Ibid. 54 Play on phonæsthetic habits gives much of the pleasure of alliteration, assonance, and rhyme. 1950 Archivum Linguisticum II. 97 Phonaesthesia or sound symbolism. 1965 Language XLI. 347 Morphophonemics, phonesthesis, and paralanguage she wholly ignores. 1971 Archivum Linguisticum New Ser. II. 43 Some verbs, for example, do not occur without aspectival..or directional..extension; shamble, for instance, requires the ‘complementation’ of off, on, up, down, across, etc., a fact to which its phonaesthetic overtones of amble, shuffle,..may or may not relate. 1972 M. L. Samuels Linguistic Evol. iii. 48 The growth of phonaesthetic patterns is of importance as a special type of linguistic change. Ibid. xiii. 161 In some verbs where a short vowel had been developed phonetically, it was phonaesthetically suited for the expression of point-action. 1977 Maledicta Summer 65 (heading) Phonesthesis and scatology. |