Can
sounds and letters have meanings in themselves?
Usually we think of meaning as belonging to words like beer or to grammatical inflections like ‘‑ing’ or ‘-ly’. However there are some groups of words in English where a particular combination of sounds or letters seems to go with a particular meaning.
‘sn-’; something to do with breathing and the nose/mouth: snore, sneer, sniff, snot, sneeze, snuffle, sniffles snob, snuff, snout, snarl, snicker, snigger, snivel, snorkel, snooze, snooty, snub,
‘tw-’;
something to do with pinching or twisting: tweak,
twirl, twist, tweezers, twiddle, twine, twizzle
‘-ip’;
light blows: nip clip dip yip
‘-ous’;
lip smacking: luscious, delicious,
scrumptious, voluptuous
‘-ion’;
no clear meaning but vital syllables in reggae lyrics and political discourse: revolution,
generation, appreciation, consideration, nation, satisfaction, jubilation,
globalisation, marketization, theorization
‘sq-’;
something unpleasant to do with liquid and impact: squash,
squish, squeeze, squelch, squidgy, squirt, squabby, squirm,
‘gl-’;
something to do with sight and reflected light: glare,
glitter, gleam, glimmer, glint, glow, glitz, glass, glance, glimpse, glaze,
gloom
‘-ash’,
something to do with violent contact: bash,
crash, lash, gnash, mash, gash, dash to ground,
Is this just coincidence or do these sounds have some meaning of their own? If you were designing a new breakfast cereal, would you call it Squoffy Snash say?