The ability to associate objects with phonetical sounds...

[Peter_20]

This title sucks, but I can't make it any clearer.

Anyway, I've always been very interested in languages, and I've also found it easy to tell objects from how their names sound.
Let me explain: English words like "tender" and "cruel" have a certain ring to them: "tender" actually SOUNDS sweet and nice and whatnot, and "cruel" sounds pretty ominous.
I've discovered that some people can associate things like this, and some seem to lack this ability.
My family members have little interest in these kinds of things, though.

Have you ever thought about this?
I mean, that words and their sounds actually make you asssociate them with different things?
Consider those names in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time:
"Deku" is a great name for a plant or a growing thing; "Goron" is an ingenious word for a stone-folk; and "Zora" perfectly fits with the water-people.
I've also invented som own nice words, like "caro" (red), "calo" (green), "lauro" (fire), "lindo" (soft) and "ondo" (hard).
I think they make sense as well.

Anyway, discuss.

[Vikeve]

I see what your saying sometimes thinking that way helps me learn words from other languages but I still suck at learning other languages. I sometimes... well... most of the time blurt out sounds that aren't words and people still understand what I'm saying but they are also used to it from me.

[Zeldy]

Oxymorons? (Listening in English lessons pays off~)

I can't think of any examples, but just words that sound like..what they are? I never really understood it, but I know it exists!

The only reason you think "Goku" sounds like something plant and earthy, is because you have the benefit of hindsight, so its quite bias (Listening in History lessons pays off~)

[Shauna]

Oxymorons? (Listening in English lessons pays off~)

Oxymoron: a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.”

The only word I can think of that you could be mistaking it for is onomatopoeia. When a word sounds like the thing it's describing.

[/English lesson]

And no, the way things are said do not make me associate them with anything else. xD

[Tavrobel]

I associate the word "tranquility" with "the death of my enemies when I kill them horribly and brutally." But, I don't think this is a sign of any language associations.

How something is said affects how it should be perceived. The word cruel, in you example, sounds harsh, because when it is said, it has a harsh meaning, while tender sounds nice, because people say it in a positive way. The brain works in mysterious ways, indeed.

[Zeldy]

Oxymorons? (Listening in English lessons pays off~)

Oxymoron: a figure of speech by which a locution produces an incongruous, seemingly self-contradictory effect, as in “cruel kindness” or “to make haste slowly.”

The only word I can think of that you could be mistaking it for is onomatopoeia. When a word sounds like the thing it's describing.

[/English lesson]

And no, the way things are said do not make me associate them with anything else. xD

Ah. I think that was the word I was told to jot down but just couldn't spell it so gave up. :]

[Shauna]

I don't know how to spell it either, I had to look it up in the dictionary! ;_;

[Gnostic Yevon]

I think it's almost all psychology.

You listen to more tone of voice than anything anyway. try it yourself -- go to Youtube and pick a language you dont actually speak (like chinese or something). Listen to it. You won't pick up the words but you will pick up on a lot of other stuff. It happens all the time.

[yanis]

I've also invented som own nice words, like "caro" (red), "calo" (green), "lauro" (fire), "lindo" (soft) and "ondo" (hard).
I think they make sense as well.

I think it's different for everyone...
Caro reminds me of carriage, coz that what it means in Greek The same is for calo, it reminds me something GOOD!
Oh and the Zelda words...I don't know why but deku reminds me coconut!
Maybe what you're saying makes sense...it's sure that every word means something, but maybe it means different things for others...

EDIT: [/Greek lesson]

[Dr. Acula]

What would happen if the words "flower" and "death" switched meanings? Would people say that flower sounds scary, and that death sounds sweet-smelling and innocent?

[Honest Abel]

Agreed about hindsight. There most likely isn't some odd, mystical force behind words, syllables, or letters that fecundates them with inherent meaning. More likely, you just associate certain words or phonemes with what you've been told they mean over many years.

[Peter_20]

Agreed about hindsight. There most likely isn't some odd, mystical force behind words, syllables, or letters that fecundates them with inherent meaning. More likely, you just associate certain words or phonemes with what you've been told they mean over many years.

I don't think that's the only reason.
Sure, you do associate words with their meanings, but you can actually tell what it is from the phonetic ring of the word.

For example, words like "nim" and "mor" (Tolkien power! ) - it's obvious which words mean "black" and "white", because of the "bright" and "dark" sound.

I'm not talking about "recognizing" words, but rather about "feeling" them.

What would happen if the words "flower" and "death" switched meanings? Would people say that flower sounds scary, and that death sounds sweet-smelling and innocent?

You would indeed get used to the change with time, but you probably would think the words had little to do with the objects they stand for.

[Giga Guess]

For example, words like "nim" and "mor" (Tolkien power! ) - it's obvious which words mean "black" and "white", because of the "bright" and "dark" sound.

See, whereas I looked at them and immediately had them switched around.

I don't think it's the fact that the words sound like the feeling you get...it's more the fact that we associate the meanings to those words.

[EDIT] Wait, I misunderstood your example Peter. Sorry.

[Peter_20]

For example, words like "nim" and "mor" (Tolkien power! ) - it's obvious which words mean "black" and "white", because of the "bright" and "dark" sound.

See, whereas I looked at them and immediately had them switched around.

I don't think it's the fact that the words sound like the feeling you get...it's more the fact that we associate the meanings to those words.

[EDIT] Wait, I misunderstood your example Peter. Sorry.

Well, I think you pretty clearly can translate the word "iaur" - is it "young" or "old"?

[Giga Guess]

Maybe it's a Monday thing, but I'm not sure. Young?