phonaesthetics (n.)

A term sometimes used in LINGUISTICS to refer to the study of the aesthetic properties of sound, especially the SOUND SYMBOLISM attributable to individual sounds; also (especially in US English) spelled phonesthetics here and in related forms. Cases such as the [ip] vowels in a LANGUAGE signalling smallness (cf. teeny, weeny, etc.) have been suggested as evidence for a limited sound/MEANING correspondence in language (phonaesthesia or SYNAESTHESIA), the sound units concerned being referred to as ‘phonaesthemes’. The branch of STYLISTICS which studies such EXPRESSIVE effects (e.g. the onomatopoeia of poetry) is known as PHONOSTYLISTICS.