Iniciální konsonantické fonestémy v češtině
Initial consonantal phonaesthemes in Czech

Summary/Abstract: The paper introduces the concept of phonaesthemes and discusses its relevance for linguistic theory, subsequently trying to identify initial phonaesthemes in Czech consisting of at least two consonants. The sequence /chr-/ seems to be a prototypical phonaestheme in Czech. As only one other sequence (/hň-/) appears to be reliably identifiable as a phonaestheme, it seems that phonaesthemes are not particularly common in Czech, when compared e.g. with English. However, this conclusion might not be warranted if less strict criteria for defining phonaesthemes were applied. The importance of further research into phonaesthemes and sound symbolism in Czech is highlighted by the lack of literature on sound symbolism and iconicity in the Czech lexicon, as seen in the context of the recent research on this topic in other languages.

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