The Semantics of Beauty in Spanish Adjectives: Conceptual Structure and Implications for Folk Aesthetics.

This article analyzes Spanish adjectives expressing positive aesthetic evaluation through the framework of Conceptual Semantics, using a sample of ninety-six adjectives with 148 semantic variants drawn from the *Diccionario ideográfico y semántico de la valoración estética positiva en español*. It identifies three main conceptual structures for beauty: simple ascription (beauty as an intrinsic quality), causation (beauty as cause or effect), and comparison (beauty as resemblance), with a strong emphasis on visual attributes and part structure as primary targets of evaluation. The study reveals fourteen secondary qualities associated with beauty, such as daintiness, perfection, effort, grace, taste, and uniqueness, and highlights notable asymmetries between human and non-human beauty in Spanish folk aesthetics—for example, humans are never conceptualized as direct causers of beauty without instruments, and human beauty is often compared to supernatural or natural ideals rather than serving as a standard for other beauty. Quantitative analysis shows that human beauty is primarily judged by visual appearance and characteristic actions, whereas non-human beauty is evaluated through a broader range of criteria, reflecting culturally embedded value systems within the Spanish language.