If it's the concept behind the word it's not really the word per se that's beautiful

I would agree, Faldage. To a person dying of thirst in a desert, "water" is surely the most beautiful word in the english language.

Yet some words are beautiful because they marry sound and concept, or sound and imagery.

"Melody" is such a word. "Melody" is "melodious". "Fierce" is "frightening", "formidable" and "ferocious".

Is "mother", beginning as it does with "m", more evocative of nurturing than "father" which begins with "f"?

mmmm good!

f ???

Perhaps we judge words, like people, by the company they keep.

"m" hangs out in more beautiful company, overall, than "f".