Aesthetic Interpretation of Words： Explore the Factors for the Beauty of Modern English Words

肖芷玥

◆摘  要：Language is the most important way for human beings to approach the world and the most important tool for human communication and thinking. Word is the smallest semantic unit. Therefore， it is of rich significance to analyze the aesthetic values[1] of English words. I will discuss the aesthetic value of words through the image， rhythm and artistic conception of English words， thus will better understand the charm of English language.

◆關键词：Modern English words， beauty， appreciation， aesthetic value

English has a strong versatility international in the current international arena. And why do so many people consider English to be attractive？ Although it is closely related to British colonial history， it is also inseparable from the aesthetic value of language itself. The term “aesthetics” comes from the Greek word “Aristithesis”， which refers to a sense of pleasure and spiritual pleasure that people get from perceiving things with their senses . Human aesthetic activity is one of the most fundamental human activities， and the pursuit of beauty is an eternal pursuit of creation of vocabulary. In this paper， I will introduce aesthetics into modern English words.

1The aesthetics of glyph

In the primary stage of English reading， people mainly experience the beauty of words by analyzing the shape and formation of language symbols. Readers or users can receive the cognitive semantics of English language merely via written form.

1.1The structural aesthetics of alphabetic lines

From the structure of the alphabet， some of the letters in the English alphabet are composed of lines， some are composed of lines and curves. But no matter what the form is， the size and shape of 26 letters have rich imagery features.For instance， some show a graceful line， such as “L” and “M”; some have a fluent curve reflecting the harmonious natural scene， such as “S”， which represents the line of the human body and the law of natural operation. In addition， some represent tolerance and fusion， such as lowercase “b”， “q”， “p”， “g”， because they both combine straight lines with circles， which is a bit like the "square and circle" fusion in Chinese culture.

1.2The morphological aesthetics of word spelling

Letters are arranged together to form words. And the English words formed in the certain spelling rules have a unique form of beauty. When we write English words， each line in an English exercise book consists of three squares with four horizontal lines. Each letter occupies a different place in the three squares. English words written under this rule are never on the same line as the notes on a musical staff. In this way， in the visual sense， it gives people a sense of beauty. What's more interesting is that when there are two identical letters put together， the letter next to them is at different height of these two， such as "addict"， “copper” and so on. In the word “addict”， letters “a” and “i” are lower than “dd”; in the word “copper”， letter “o” and “e” is higher than “pp”. Their mixture shows a rich variation， neatness， nature， and fantastic personality.

1.3The flexible aesthetics of one word forming a sentence

Some sentences consist of one word words， such as "quick" and "really"， which are punctuated under certain conditions to become sentences. These short sentences keep the expression concise， and at the same time interact with other long sentences to make the whole paragraph flexible. There's another case in which some words appear not as components of a sentence， but as the parenthesis. Parenthesis is a special structure in English， whose function is to alleviate the aesthetic fatigue of long sentences. And it changes the order so that the expression is more flexible. For example， “Ancient men made tools of stones as they always used flint because it is easier to shape than other kinds.” If we add parenthesis， we divide the sentence into single words or phrases， we will find it more understandable： “Fortunately， however， ancient men made tools of stone， flint， especially; because it is easier to shape than other kinds.”

2The aesthetics of pronunciation

“Any style has a problem with smooth pronunciation， smooth tone， beautiful tone， in short， any type of writing should pay attention to the language of music. ”  In English words， this kind of musical beauty is often realized through rhyming， light and stressed syllables， English linking and other forms.

2.1Phonological aesthetics of word rhyme

The rhyme of English words is generally regular. It is usually divided into alliteration and end rhymes according to the position of the rhyme. This repetition of the same or similar pronunciation makes long words easy to read and remember. Pronunciation examples of Alliterations include “hale-and-hearty”， “rock-and-roll”， “black-and-blue”. As for end rhymes， we have “hustle-bustle”， “gray-day”， and “dozy-and-cozy”.

2.2Rhythm aesthetics of light and stress words

There is no fixed intonation in English， which changes with emotion and content when speaking. But there are stresses that can make pronunciation not monotonous and boring. As we speak， we may stress the repeated syllables and weaken the pronunciation of the different syllables， which makes the speaking full of musical beauty. The more syllables a word contains， the more obvious the beauty of stress is. the words full of pitches; the words are catchy and easy to remember. For example， the stressed syllable in "foundation" is /de?/， which is in the middle of the three syllables. "communication" has four syllables， and its stressed syllable lies in /ke?/， which is also in the middle of the pronunciation. This arrangement can minimize the length of time it takes to speak in a flat and direct tone， so as to let the tone go up and down within the single word. For this reason， it sounds rhythmic.

2.3Simplification aesthetics of adjacent morphemes pronunciation

The connection between two syllables is as simple as possible if the two closed syllables are connected， the end of the first syllable is usually the same as the beginning of the next， leading to the coherence of the two syllables. For example， in the word “inform”， the syllable /?n/ ends with the lips not closed， and /f?/ also starts with lips not closed， so there is little change to the placement of lips and tongue. While in the word “import”， the syllable /p?/ starts with the lips closed， thus people employ “im” instead of “in”， so it is easy to move lips. It works the same with “confront”， “entire” and so on.

3The aesthetics of meaning

The rationality， appeal and expressiveness of language are mainly achieved through peoples aesthetic sense of wording. As a result， people can choose from words to finish their expression， just like choose from pieces of jigsaw to finish their picture.

3.1The inclusiveness of English vocabulary

English is an all-embracing language， There are a lot of foreign words in English， which make this language and other languages have commonality and have strong empathy ability of language. For instance， French helps enrich the morphology in English： the suffix “eau” means places： “bureau”， “plateau” and “tableau”; some oriental vocabulary can be easily understood in English： “silk”， “toufu” and “tea”; many of the nouns for objects common to people today come from Arabic： “amber”， “candy”， “cotton” and “apricot”. Words like “hamburger”， “zietgeist”， “hamster”， and “waltz” are obvious for German speaker to get... English words can also come from Turkish， Italian， Spanish， Russian， and so on.this makes English more acceptable to speakers of other languages. Therefore， when people in other countries learn English， they can remember words more easily， which is the reason why people generally feel it is easier to learn English than other language， and it also shows that English vocabulary is very inclusive.

3.2The accuracy of word meaning

Modern English has a large vocabulary. Oxford Advanced Dictionary contains 80，000 entries. In a set of relative synonyms， they contain various nuances， which form the flexibility and precision of English vocabulary. People decide which word to use based on its denotation or connotation， semantic coverage and the style. For example， we may check the difference between the two words "statesman" and "politician". "Statesman" refers to a state activist， and a leader who is fair and wise， which is usually commendatory; while "politician" refers to a person who is good at playing politics， which in many cases has a derogatory meaning.

3.3The richness of semantic associations

“The proper use of ambiguity and metaphor， abstraction and exact data， etc”  can bring unique aesthetic and pragmatic effects to English， not only to improve the flexibility of expression， but also to express implicature in a euphemistic manner. For instance， there is standard English vocabulary and English slang， such as “die” and “ go to heaven”， “old people” and “Senior citizen”. In the sentence “Lady Gagas Edge of Glory slays！”， it has nothing to do with its original meaning--“to kill”， and if people are doing something amazing， they can use “slay”. Another example is that the figurative meaning of the English word is widely used. “A black eye”， originally means a black pupil or an eye ring that is bruised. However， “a political black eye” is a metaphor for “a political tar or crackdown”. This exaggeration makes the word more expressive， vivid， infectious and appealing. This arouses the reader's association and realize the “illocutionary force”.

4Conclusion

Modern English words have abundant aesthetic value. The aesthetics of glyph，pronunciation and meaning expressed by English language， bring modern English users into an aesthetic world. In this process， English language may have a long-term vitality， and inject new vitality into modern English， promote the development of modern English.

For this reason， as English majored students， we should understand the beauty of modern English word. These are an indispensable part of English learning and the process of improving the learning ability of language appreciation. Appreciation of the beauty of English words helps us to discover the inner charm of English， show the connotation culture of English， enhance the interest of English learning， and promote the cultivation of language skills.

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