In phonaesthetics, the English compound noun "cellar door" has been cited as an example of a word or phrase which is beautiful purely in terms of its sound, without regard forsemantics . It has been variously presented either as merely one beautiful instance of many, or as the most beautiful in the English language; as the author's personal choice, that of an eminent scholar's, or of a foreigner who does not speak the language.The original instance of this observation has not been discovered, although it was made as early as 1903.