#  Phonaesthemes and Sound Symbolism 

 



No automobile company would ever put out a car named "Clonk." It would be laughed off the showroom floor, not because of the engineering, but because English speakers associate certain qualities with sounds. In the case of *clonk*, it's disastrously close to *clunk*, *klutz*, *clang*, *clank*. The association is not random, it's not etymological, and it's not rational. It depends on notional associations extended to already-established words. Corporations sometimes go to great expense to research names for their products to make sure they have the right sound symbolism and avoid clunkers like the new Ford "Clonk." In fact, Ford Motor Company once asked the poet Marianne Moore to come up with a name that would "convey, through association or other conjuration, some visceral feeling of elegance, fleetness, advanced features and design. A name, in short, that flashes a dramatically desirable picture in people's minds." You can see what she came up with [HERE](http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2012/02/the-ford-faberge-by-marianne-moore/). Three words with similar sound characteristics are given [IN THE ATTACHED FILE.](/file_url/157) Give a description, however general, to the meaning you associate with it, and see if you can think of others.