Fire

Fire, Heat, Smoke and Light

Margo's Magical Letter Page

There's another way to think about the relationship between sound and meaning. To exemplify this, consider all the monomorphemic words which refer to heat or fire. As usual, if you find any words I have overlooked, please let me know. Unless I have overlooked words, or misclassified them, it's curious that nearly all words in each class contain at least one of a few consonants (see the table below). Following an idea introduced basically by Paget, imagine (hypothetically) that /r/ - perhaps in conjunction with a labial - actually produces heat and fire in a word when the word falls into this heat-fire semantic class. Perhaps the physics of the situations that give rise to fire, heat and light are symbolized by analogous structures in the word. Perhaps the physics of the mouth during production of a word is related to the physics of fire, heat and light. /r/ is quite generally the most hyperactive phoneme, and has been acknowledged as such throughout history (see Genette). It would make sense that it would be the consonant to create heat and fire.

When only fire is involved without necessarily producing heat, one of /l/, /k/, and /s/ are present, not particularly /r/, which is so prevalent when heat and fire are combined. The class of words which involve only heat, but not fire is predominated by the sounds /b/, /s/, /h/, /m/, /r/. But when a word involves both heat and light, the sounds /t/, /s/, /ch/ and /th/ are nearly excluded, although they are quite numberous otherwise in words of heat. Interestingly, these sounds are also the only unvoiced dental consonants that exist in English. Words of both heat and light contain either /b/ or /m/. Interestingly, all these sounds are unvoiced dentals. Dryness happens in the conjunction of /d/ and /r/. Magma is in /m/, and smoke, is in /s/,/m/. Speaking very broadly, /l/ is light, /r/ is fire, /m/ is smoldering or magma, and in addition fricatives can cause heat.

Fire, Heat and Light (each word implies all 3) - /s/, /r/, /l/
/s/ - smolder, sun
/r/ - brand, braze, fiery, fire, hearth, smolder, torch
/l/ - blaze

Heat and Light (each word implies heat and light, but not fire) - /b/, /m/
/b/ - bake, balmy, bask
/m/ - balmy, magma, mantle, smolder

Fire and Light (each word implies fire and light, but not heat) - /f/, /l/
/k/ - candle, comet, kindle
/f/ - flare, flambeau, flame, flash, flick, flicker, flint
/s/ - spark, star
/m/ - flambeau, flame, match
/l/ - bolt, candle, flambeau, flame, flare, flash, flick, flicker, flint, kindle

Fire and Heat (each word implies heat and fire, but not light) - /r/
/b/ - barbecue, braise, burn, hibachi
(/f/ - fiery, forge, fry, furnace
/s/ - scorch, sear
/n/ - kiln
/r/ - barbecue, braise, burn, forge, fry, furnace, roast, scorch, sear

Light Only (no heat, fire) - /m/, /n/ /r/, /l/
/b/ - beacon, beam, blitz, bright, bulb, strobe
/d/ - dawn, day, radar
/g/ - glow, glare, gleam, glim, glimmer, glint, glisten, glister, glitter, gloaming, globe, glogg, glow
/t/ - blitz, bright, glint, glisten, glister, glitter, lantern, light, photo, roentgen, stream, strobe
/m/ - beam, moon, shimmer
/n/ - noon, nova, sheen, shine
/r/ - bright, radar, ray, roentgen, shimmer, sparkle, stream, strobe
/l/ - bulb, film, flash, flood, halo, lamp, lantern, lase, laser, light, sparkle

Light - /m/, /n/, /r/, /l/
/b/ - balmy, bask, beacon, beam, blaze, blitz, bolt, brand, braise, braze, bright, bulb, strobe
/d/ - candle, dawn, day, radar, smolder
/g/ - glow, glare, gleam, glim, glimmer, glint, glisten, glister, glitter, gloaming, globe, glogg, glow, magma
/t/ - blitz, bolt, bright, comet, glint, glisten, glister, glitter, lantern, light, mantle, match, meteor, photo, roentgen, star, stream, strobe, torch
/f/ - fiery, film, fire, flambeau, flame, flare, flash, flick, flicker, flint, flood, forge, fry, furnace
/s/ - bask, blitz, furnace, glisten, glister, smolder, sparkle, spark, star, stream, strobe, summer
/m/ - beam, comet, magma, mantle, match, meteor, moon, shimmer, smolder, spring, summer
/n/ - brand, furnace, kiln, kindle, mantle, noon, nova, sheen, shine, sun
/r/ - barbecue, braise, brand, braze, bright, fiery, forge, fry, furnace, hearth, meteor, radar, ray, roentgen, shimmer, smolder, spark, sparkle, spring, star, stream, strobe
/l/ - blaze, blitz, bolt, bulb, candle, film, flambeau, flame, flare, flash, flood, halo, kiln, kindle, lamp, lantern, lase, laser, light, mantle, smolder, sparkle

Fire - /m/, /r/, /l/ (without heat)
/b/ - barbecue, blaze, blitz, bolt, braise, burn
/k/ - candle, comet, crackle, kiln, kindle
/f/ - fiery, fire, flare, flambeau, flame, flash, flick, flicker, flint, forge, fry, furnace
/s/ - scorch, sear, smolder, spark, star, stoke, sun
/h/ - hearth, hibachi
/C/ - char, match, torch
/r/ - barbecue, braise, burn, char, crackle, fiery, fire, flare, forge, fry, furnace, hearth, scorch, sear, smolder, spark, star, torch
/l/ - blaze, bolt, candle, crackle, kiln, kindle, flare, flambeau, flame, flash, flick, flicker, flint, smolder

Heat - /b/, /s/, /h/, /m/, /r/
/b/ - bake, balmy, barbecue, bask, blaze, boil, brand, braise, braze, brew, broil, broth, burn
/t/ - heat, hot, mantle, melt, meteor, poach, sauté, smelt, steam, steep, steppe, stew, stifle, stove, sultry, sweat, sweater, swelter, thirst, toast, torch
/f/ - fiery, fire, forge, fry, furnace (always involves heat)
/T/, /H/ - broth, scathe, seethe, smith, south, thaw, therm, thirst
/s/ - bask, samovar, sauna, sauté, scald, scathe, scorch, sear, seethe, simmer, singe, sizzle, smelt, smith, smolder, solder, south, spring, star, steam, steep, steppe, stew, stifle, stove, sultry, summer, sun, swaddle, sweat, sweater, swelter, toast
/h/ - Hades, hearth, heat, hell, hibachi, hot
/m/ - magma, mantle, match, melt, meteor, muggy, mull, samovar, simmer, smelt, smith, smolder, steam, summer, warm
/n/ - kiln, sun
/r/ - brand, braze, brew, broil, broth, char, fiery, fire, forge, fry, furnace, hearth, meteor, rad, roast, smolder, spring, star, sultry, summer, warm, therm, thirst, torch

Dry - /r/
/d/ - desert, drought, dry
/p/ - parch

Smoke - /s/, /m/
/s/ - cigar, cinder, smog, smoke, smolder, smother, soot, steam

Words Related to Light
Looking - cinema, flinch, gape, gasp, gawk, gaze, glance, glare, glazed, glimpse, glint, glower, goggle, look, loom, lurk, scan, scope, scour, scout, screen, search, see, seek, sight, skim, specter, spot, spy, squint, stare, watch, wink
Reflective Surfaces - /l/: glacé, glacier, glair, glare, glass, glaze, gloss, grease, lens, luster, mirror

Heat, Fire, Light, Sight
Sorted by Consonant

/b/ - /r/, /ij/
Fire - [+liquid]: bake, barbecue, blaze, bolt, braise, broil, burn
Heat - boil, brew, broth
Light - [+liquid]: balmy, bask, beacon, beam, blitz, brand, braze, bright, bulb

/d/
Dry - /r/: desert, drain, drought, dry
Light: dawn, day

/g/
Light - /l/: glow, glare, gleam, glim, glimmer, glint, glisten, glister, glitter, gloaming, globe, glogg, glow
Looking - /l/: gape, gasp, gawk, gaze, glance, glare, glazed, glimpse, glint, glower, goggle
Reflective Surfaces - /l/: glacé, glacier, glair, glare, glass, glaze, gloss, grease

/p/
parch, poach

/t/
toast, torch

/k/
Cook: cake, coke, cook, cookie, cracker
Heat/Fire/Light: candle, kiln; comet; coddle, cook, (crackle), kindle

/f/
Light - /l/: film, flare, flambeau, flame, flash, flick, flicker, flinch, flint, flood, photo
Fire - /r/: fiery, fire, flambée, flame, flare, forge, fry, furnace
Miscellaneous: flint, fume, fuse, phoenix

/T/
Heat/Fire: thaw, therm, thirst, (thunder)

/s/
Hot - /m/, /w/, [+liquid]: cinder, samovar, sauna, sauté, scald, scathe, scorch, sear, seethe, sere, simmer, singe, sizzle, smelt, smith, smolder, smother, solder, south, spark, spring, star, steam, steep, steppe, stew, stifle, stoke, stove, sultry, summer, sun, swaddle, sweat, sweater, swelter
Smoke - /m/: cigar, smog, smoke, smolder, smother, soot, steam
Light - /r/: signal, spark, sparkle, star, stream, strobe, sun
See - [+stop, -voiced]: cinema, scan, scope, scour, scout, screen, search, see, seek, sight, skim, specter, spot, spy, squint, stare

/S/
Fire/Heat - /r/: shrink, shrivel
Light - /i/: sheen, shimmer, shine

/h/
Hot - [+dental]: Hades, heat, hearth, hell, hibachi, hot
Light: halo

/C/
char

/m/
Magma - /l/, /t/: magma, mantle, melt, meteor
Moon: meteor, moon
Other: match, mirror, muggy, mull

/n/
noon, nova

/r/
Ray - outside visible spectrum: rad, radar, range, ray, roast, roentgen

/l/
Light: lamp, lantern, lase, laser, lens, light, live, look, luster
Look: look, loom, lurk

/w/
Heat: warm
Sight: watch, wink

Margo's Magical Letter Page