Here we come a-diggin'

So the research is begun. My partner and I have learned that what is necessary in researching this topic is not to learn about specific components, such as Coca-Cola’s use of phonaesthetic principles in advertising or detailed lists of euphonic and cacophonic words, but rather to inquire about more general subtopics, like thoroughly learning the meanings of phonaesthetics, euphony, and cacophony. Though this may seem counterintuitive, it is a necessary process in order for us to advance our research beyond the margins of mere definition. Put simply, we believe that thorough research of the broad will allow for a more inspired navigation of the specific.

Of course, any such topics as relating to linguistics provide myriad scholarly and popular sources, and so burden us with an overwhelming amount of potential paths. As for scholarly sources, we haven’t found any cohesive works (in most of these, phonaesthetics only is a sub-subtopic), though we have found specific people. JRR Tolkien is a recurring name in this field. He seems to have contributed a significant amount of research to modern phonaesthetics, and has set out simple principles to distinguish between euphonic and cacophonic words. We are looking to form full definitions, with appropriate examples, of our central terms: phonaesthetics, euphony, and cacophony. Informative popular sources include a Forbes article on influential words, and various online expanded dictionaries. See? We really are starting broadly.