Stylistics
Euphony
Euphony is the pleasant-to-the-ear sound of speech, achieved by the harmonious selection and combination of sounds and the avoidance of cacophonous coincidences. The Ukrainian language has a developed system of means of euphony — the alternation of u/v, i/y, prepositional and affixal variants — which allows heavy clusters of consonants or vowels to be avoided. In poetry euphony is an important component of artistic form: a harmonious sound organisation reinforces the emotional effect of the verse, creating its melodiousness and musicality. Euphony is closely linked to sound-writing, rhythm and the intonation of a work. The opposite concept is cacophony — deliberate or involuntary discordance. Euphony as an aesthetic quality of speech is a subject of phonostylistics and an important criterion of the culture of artistic and oral speech.
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Meaning, origins and distinction — side by side.
Distinction
Opposite poles of sound organisation. Euphony is a pleasant-to-the-ear sound achieved by harmonious selection and the avoidance of heavy clusters; it reinforces melodiousness and emotional effect. Cacophony is a harsh, unpleasant sound from consonant clusters or disharmony; usually a flaw, but deliberately used it conveys the disharmony, tension or ugliness of the depicted. One draws the ear; the other deliberately jars it.
