Euphony as an Esthetical Feature of the Speech.
The Euphonic Attributes of Polish and Other Slavic Languages
The essay is dedicated to the esthetical aspect of language. When speaking, people usually
pay more attention to the sense of the expression in the lexical level mainly. However
vowels are the smallest elements in the system of language, also play rather important
role in it. The special use of vowels can influence the perception of the text so that the
esthetical function of language is realized. This is the main task of euphony – the phonetic
phenomenon of harmonic combination of vowels aimed on the esthetic influence on the
recipient. There are several basic aspects of euphony: the variety of vowels, the harmonic
combination of vowels according to the simple articulation, the balance between vocals
and consonants, the sonority of speech and specific prosody. These phonetic means make
the speech melodic and similar to singing. The affect of cacophony appears when pronunciation
is difficult or unpleasant to the ear.
138 Olga Gaiseniuk
The Slavic languages among others are also characterized by some means of euphony.
The functioning of these means was analyzed on the material of the Lord’s Prayer and International
Covenant on Civil and International Law as parallel texts. It was found that in all Slavic
languages the balance is kept between vocals and consonants. The processes of assimilation,
dissimilation and simplification in the groups of sounds help to achieve the harmony of
articulation. Phonetic alternations and morphological changes make speech various. The
tendency to euphony appeared in the period of Preslavic language, where the Law of open
syllables existed. The Polish language also includes the means of euphony. Their usage was
examined in the fragment of radio program. The speakers should formulate their statements
according to the aspects of euphony in order to bring the esthetical pleasure for the listeners.
Then the speech becomes the real process of creating art.