Zompist Bboard Again

For those who don't know, there's an AI called "DALL-E" that generates artwork based on user prompts. Well, a comedian searched "Crungus" after making up the term, and surprisingly got a coherent monster out of it. That made me think—what is the interplay between phonaesthetics/ideophones and culture?

I find full (so not tense) vowels in most positions and simple syllable structure (maximally CjVC) with lots of sonorants (but not without stops) pretty. I also think voiceless stops are pretty then voiced stops in most cases. This is coincidentally the aesthetic of Quenya meant to be a beautiful language. However whenever i hear japanese spoken i dislike it. Also clicks are pretty.

I went to a random word generator and made monster names:

Ociramma – A river creature with a taste for children’s toes.

Shously – A nocturnal monster that forms from any clump of dirty clothes on the floor of your bedroom, once it gets big enough.

Thodian – An ancient demigod that haunts ruins, and topples rocks and columns onto to the heads of the unwary.

I agree though, they sound too pretty. Where is the Brunder Bug? The Glorbon? The Glum Bumper?

My favorite monster name is the Wumpus.

To borrow ketsuban's example, what sort of monster is a [xɬpʼχʷɬtʰɬpʰɬːskʷʰt͡sʼ]?

zompist wrote: ↑Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:15 pm To borrow ketsuban's example, what sort of monster is a [xɬpʼχʷɬtʰɬpʰɬːskʷʰt͡sʼ]?

Slithery and a bit lumpy, maybe one of those "eldritch" folks people are so fond of these days.

zompist wrote: ↑Tue Jun 28, 2022 7:15 pm To borrow ketsuban's example, what sort of monster is a [xɬpʼχʷɬtʰɬpʰɬːskʷʰt͡sʼ]?

An alien monster in Calvin and Hobbes.