Let’s start with the spoken word.  I listen to the vibration as people speak.  Some voices are soothing.  Some are intrusive.

Some languages bathe me in scented water.  French is one.  A musical word that fits here is legato:

“Tied together … played or sung smoothly and connectedly … flowing”

J’espère que le monde vous soignera bien

I hope the world takes good care of you

Some spoken languages jolt me.  They sound staccato:

“Detached … separated … notes that are played or sung sharply, making them short, crisp and disconnected from the notes around them”

I find Dutch this way.  It’s the major language in my home city of Gent, Belgium.

Ik hoop dat de wereld goed voor je zorgt

I hope the world takes good care of you

I know that my written words don’t give you a clear picture of the spoken words.  But the difference for me is striking.

If you look at the French sentence, a lot of the words end in vowels … soft.  In the Dutch one, the endings are mostly consonants, often hard ones such as k, p and t.

In both worlds, most of the people are nice

Still, I prefer to be lulled