Most Beautiful Words

I have always been upfront about my affinity for words. So much so, that this is not the first piece of writing I have written not only with, but also about words. I have an infatuation with the study of language and the uses of each word. However, when it comes to choosing the most beautiful words... I find myself getting distracted. You see, a word can be beautiful for three reasons: 1) the sound of it  2) the meaning behind it, or 3) the circumstance in which it was used.

If you take one word and examine it for all three of these characteristics, you will find it coming up short in most cases. For example, take the word "claw." It is a fun word to say, partly because it makes us Americans feel as though we have a British accent for a moment, but it also easily rolls off of the tongue. However, there is nothing beautiful about the act of clawing or the image that comes to mind when the word is said. One could imagine a cat clawing a dead bird or a man trapped in a box, clawing for his freedom.

To examine the latter, a word that is beautiful in the meaning behind it, but not the actual sounds that make up its pronunciation, could be a name. Not all names are beautiful-sounding in their pronunciation alone. However, when someone hears their own name, it feels a bit like being wanted. Whether it is your peers talking about something you have done recently, or the beckoning call of a friend, hearing one's name is instantly personal and possibly the most interesting and beautiful word one person can hear. Also, this word is universally beautiful in each circumstance in which it is used, because whether the news is good or bad, it pertains to you and that is beautiful.

Perhaps the word "money" is a beautiful word, solely based on its meaning, because when people read or hear the word, they perk up. While "money" has been given a negative connotation before, due to authors who have claimed it as a "curse" or something that ruined mankind, it still exists as an important word today. For example, if you tell anyone today, "You can have all my money," then flocks of people will most likely succumb to your use of a beautiful word. However, the word isn't beautiful-sounding. When you form the word it makes the "uh" noise as if you are confused about something, and adding the "ee" sound at the end is something a child does. Like the word "doggie," or "veggie" it makes the speaker sound unsophisticated. Perhaps a more beautiful word would be "cash" or "currency," but each of those words has a different connotation and does not equate to the word "money."

The beauty of language comes from its complexity, the delicate piecing together of consonants and vowels which can sound so similar to another word yet have a completely different meaning in the same language. While I would love to have one word that has a flawless relationship between its literal sound and its meaning, I have not found one yet. Perhaps there is a truly beautiful word that sounds beautiful, means something beautiful, is always used in a beautiful environment, and pertains to me, however, the mission of finding this word, may be impossible...