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onomatopoeia n : using words that imitate the sound they denote

User Contributed Dictionary

English

Etymology

From ὀνοματοποιία (onomatopoiia) "the coining of a word in imitation of a sound", from ονοματοποιέω (onomatopoieo) "to coin names", from (onoma) "name" + (poieo) "to make, to do, to produce".

Pronunciation

a RP /ˌɒnəˌmætə'piə/, /%Qn@%m

Extensive Definition

Onomatopoeia (occasionally spelled onomateopoeia or onomatopœia, from Greek ονοματοποιία) is a word or a grouping of words that imitates the sound it is describing, suggesting its source object, such as "click," "bunk", "clang," "buzz," or animal noises such as "oink", "slurp", or "meow". The word is a synthesis of the Greek words όνομα (onoma, = "name") and ποιέω (poieō, = "I make" or "I do") thus it essentially means "name creation", although it makes more sense combining "name" and "I do", meaning it is named (and spelled) as it sounds (e.g. quack, bang, etc.).

Variations in onomatopoeia between languages

Onomatopoeic words exist in every language, although they are different in each. For example:

Bird singing

In English, cheep cheep, tweet
In French, cui, cui
In German, tschiwitt
In Spanish, pío, pío

Cannon firing or gun shot

In Arabic, bom, bov
In Chinese, Mandarin, cannon firing - peng! (嘭 or 砰), gun firing - Ping, Pang or Pa (乒 or 啪) machine gun - da da da... (嗒嗒嗒)
In Danish, bang, bum
In Dutch, cannon firing - bang, gun firing - pang, machine gun - bratatata
In English, bang, boom, or pow
in Estonian, põmm
In Finnish, pum: generally for all gunfire and explosions
In French, pan: a gun or cannon firing
In German, peng or päng: a pistol shot
In Greek, bam, (μπαμ)
In Hungarian bumm
In Italian, bum
In Icelandic, búmm or bamm
In Lithuanian, bumpt
In Spanish, pum
In Swedish, pang: a gun shot
In Turkish, bam: a gun shot or bom: a cannon firing
In Hebrew, bum (בום)

Cat meowing

In Arabic, miao
In Bengali: মিউ মিউ miu miu
In Catalan, meu
In Chinese, Cantonese, mēu-mēu (喵喵)
In Chinese, Mandarin, miāo miāo (喵喵)
In Danish, mjau
In Dutch, miauw
In English, meow, miaow (UK), or mew
In Estonian, mjäu, njäu
In French, miaou
In Finnish, miau
In German, miau
In Greek, niau, (νιάου)
In Hungarian miaú, nyau
In Italian, miao miao
In Japanese, nya (にゃあ)
In Korean, yaong ()
In Lithuanian, miau
In Russian, myau (мяу)
In Spanish, miau
In Swedish, mjau
In Turkish, miyav
In Filipino, ngyaw
In Portuguese, miau
In Hebrew, miaw (מיאו)

Collision sounds

In Arabic, bom , trakh
In Bengali: ঠাস ṭhash ঠুস ṭhush ধুম dhum ধাম dham
In Chinese, Cantonese, bìhng-līng baang-làahng (乒鈴嘭唥)
In Chinese, Mandarin, larger objects crashing, buildings falling down or bigger bombs detonating - Hong (轰); describing glass shattering or metal objects falling to ground - kuang-dang (哐当) or kuang-lang (哐啷)
In English: crash
In Finnish: ryskis
In French, bing or bang or boum
In German, rums or bums
In Gilbertese. beeku: a collision.
In Haitian Creole, bip: the sound of a collision (eg. a car crash).
In Korean : tock tock: the equivalent of bang bang in English.
In Latin, tuxtax was the equivalent of bam or whack and was meant to imitate the sound of blows landing.
In Lithuanian, bumpt
In Malay, gedebam-gedebum
In Turkish, güm
In Hebrew, bum, trakh (בום, טראח)

Crow calling

In Arabic, qa qa
In Bengali: কা কা ka ka
In Chinese, Mandarin, ya-ya (哑哑) (哑 means "mute")
In Danish, kra kra
In Dutch, ka ka
In English, caw caw
In Finnish, kraa kraa
In French, crôa crôa
In German, krah krah
In Greek, kra kra, (κρα κρα)
In Hungarian kár kár
In Japanese, kaa kaa, gaa gaa, ahoo ahoo
In Lithuanian, kar kar
In Russian, karr karr (кар-кар)
In Swedish, kra kra
In Turkish, gaak gaak
In Tamil, kha-kha
In Hebrew, kra kra (קְרה קְרה).

Dangling

In Chinese, Cantonese, dìuh-díu fihng (吊吊捹)
In Chinese, Mandarin, objects creaking when swaying - yiya yiya (咿呀咿呀)
In Korean , dal-lang dal-lang evoking the feeling of something dangling, slightly swaying.

Dog barking

In Arabic, haw haw
In Bengali: ঘেউ ঘেউ gheu gheu, ভেউ ভেউ bheu bheu, ভউ ভউ bhou bhou
In Bulgarian, bow bow
In Catalan, bup bup
In Chinese, Cantonese, wōu-wōu (㕵㕵)
In Chinese, Mandarin, wāng wāng (汪汪)
In Danish, vuf vuf, vov vov, bjæf bjæf
In Dutch, waf waf, woef woef
In English, woof woof, arf arf
In Estonian, auh auh
In French, ouaf ouaf
In Finnish hau hau
In German, wau wau
In Greek, gav gav (γαβ γαβ)
In Hungarian vau vau
In Italian, bau bau
In Japanese, wan wan (わんわん)
In Korean, meong meong ()
In Lithuanian , au au
In Romanian, ham ham
In Russian, gaf gaf ()
In Spanish, guau guau
In Swedish, vov vov, voff voff
In Turkish, hav hav
In Filipino, kaw kaw
In Tamil, vovw-vovw
In Portuguese, au-au
In Hebrew, haw haw, hav hav (האו האו, הב הב)

Frog croaking

In Ancient Greek, brekekekex koax koax
In Modern Greek, koax koax, (Κουάξ Κουάξ)
In Bengali: মক মক môk môk, কট কট kôṭ kôṭ
In Chinese, Mandarin: guā guā (呱呱) (The Chinese onomatopoeic signs usually feature a "口" (mouth, oral) part on its left)
In Danish: kvæk kvæk
In American English, ribbet ribbet
In Estonian krooks krooks
In Finnish kurr kurr
In French, croac croac
In Galician, cro cro
In German, quak quak
In Italian, cra cra
In Japanese, kero kero (けろけろ)
In Korean, gaegool gaegool ()
In Lithuanian, kva kva
In Russian, qvah qvah
In Spanish, croac croac
In Swedish, kvack kvack, ko ack ack ack
In Turkish, vrak vrak
In Filipino, kokak kokak
In Hungarian brekeke, brekk brekk
In Hebrew, kwwa kwwa (קווה קווה)

Geese calling

In English, honk honk
In German, schnatter schnatter
In Hebrew, bak bak (באק באק).
In Hungarian, gá gá
In Russian, kria kria (кря-кря)
In Spanish, cuá cuá

Heart beating

In Arabic, bom bom
In Bengali: দুরদুর durdur, দুড়দুড় duṛduṛ
In Chinese, Cantonese - bìhng-bìhng (砰砰)
In Chinese, Mandarin, slightly excited - tong-tong (嗵嗵), excited - peng-peng (砰砰)
In Dutch, boem boem
In English lub, dub
In Estonian, tuks tuks
In Hindi daḍak (pronounced /ˈd̪əɖək/) and Urdu dhakdhak: a person's heartbeat, indicative of the sound of one beat.
In Japanese, doki doki (ドキドキ): the (speeding up of the) beating of a heart (and thus excitement).
In Korean, doogeun doogeun ()
In Lithuanian, tuk tuk
In Tamil, lappu-tappu
In Hebrew, bum-búm (בום-בום).
In Swedish, dunk, dunk
In Turkish, dup dup
In Russian, "tuk-tuk" (тук-тук)

Kissing

In Arabic, mwa
In Danish, møs
in Dutch, smak
In English: smooch
In Bengali: চুমা chuma (noun)
In Chinese, Mandarin: boh (啵) (This word is a modern creation)
In German: schmatz
In Greek: ma or smats, (μα or σματς)
In Hungarian: cupp
In Korean: zzohk
In Malayalam, umma: the sound of a kiss.
In Russian, chmok (чмок)
In Japanese, chuu
In Filipino, tsup or mwah
In Spanish, mua
In Turkish, muck
In Hebrew, mwa (מואה).

Rooster crowing

In Arabic, kuku kukuku
In Bulgarian, kukurigu (кукуригу)
In Chinese, Mandarin, Gu Gu Gu! 咕咕咕
In Danish, kykkeliky
In Dutch, kukeleku
In French, cocorico
In English, cock a doodle doo
In Finnish, kukkokiekuu
In German, kikeriki
In Greek, kikiriku, (κικιρίκου)
In Hungarian kukurikú
In Italian, chicchirichi
In Lithuanian, kakarykū
In Romanian, cucurigu
In Russian, koo-ka-re-koo
In Spanish, quiquiriquí or quiquiriquiquí or cocoricó
In Swedish, kuckeliku
In Turkish, ü-ürü-üüü
In Filipino, titilaok
In Tamil, kokkara-ko-ko
In Hebrew, kúku ríku (קוקוריקו)

Sneezing

In Arabic, atchu
In Bengali, হাচি hachi (noun)
In Chinese, Cantonese, hāt-chī (乞嗤)
In Chinese, Mandarin, ah-qiu! (啊嚏)
In Danish, Atju!
In Dutch, Hatsjoe!
In English, Achoo!
In Estonian, Atsihh!
In French, Atchoum
In German, Hatschi!
In Greek, apsiou!, αψιου!
In Hungarian, Hapci!
In Icelandic, Atsjú!
In Italian, etciuu
in Japanese, hakushon! ()
In Korean, cool cool ()
In Lithuanian, apčiū
In Russian, Aptschee! (Апчхи)
In Spanish, ¡Achu! more frequent is ¡Achís!
In Turkish, hapşu
In Filipino, Atsing!
In Hebrew, apchi! (!אפצ'י).

Stuttering

In Bengali: থৎমৎ thôtmôt, তৎলানো tôtlano (verb)
In Hebrew, gimgoom (גמגום).

Tooth brushing

In Chinese, Mandarin, brushing - shua (唰)
In Korean , chi-ka chi-ka
In English, brushing- "brusha brusha"

Water dripping

In Bengali: টুপ টুপ ṭup ṭup
In Chinese, Cantonese, dihk-dihk (滴滴)
In Chinese, Mandarin, di-da (滴答) (which can also mean "the drop answers")
In Danish, dryp dryp (dryppe is the Danish verbal equivalent), plop plop
In Dutch, drup drup
In English, drip drop
In Finnish, tip tip
In French, plic plic/ploc
In Greek, plits plits or splats splats, πλιτς πλιτς or σπλατς σπλατς
In Hungarian, csöp-csöp (csöpp or csepp is also the Hungarian word for "drop")
In Russian, kap kap (кап-кап)
In Spanish, ploc ploc; pluip pluip
In Turkish, dıp dıp
In Tamil, sottu-sottu
In Traditional Chinese, 滴滴 (which means "drop drop")
In Hebrew, plup (פלופ), tif taf (טיף טף).

Wind blowing

In Bengali: ভোঁ bhõ, শন শন shôn shôn, ঝির ঝির jhir jhir
In Chinese, Mandarin, shiao-shiao (萧萧), Slightly strong wind - hu-hu (呼呼), Rapid/chilly wind - sou-sou (嗖嗖) (萧 means "dreary", 呼 means "shout (verb)")
In Japanese, byuu byuu, pyuu pyuu, zawa zawa, soyo soyo
In Vietnamese, vi vu: the sound of a gentle breeze, and vù vù: the sound of a strong wind.

Reasons for variations

Sometimes onomatopoeic words can seem to have a tenuous relationship with the object they describe. Native speakers of a given language may never question the relationship, but because words for the same basic sound can differ considerably between languages, non-native speakers might be confused by the idiomatic words of another language. For example, the sound a dog makes is bow-wow (or woof-woof) in English, wau-wau in German, uau-uau in Interlingua, ouaf-ouaf in French, gaf-gaf in Russian, hav-hav in Hebrew, wan-wan or bau-bau in Japanese, ão-ão in Portuguese, guau-guau in Spanish, bau-bau in Italian, vov-vov in Danish, woef woef [as English woof] or waf waf in Dutch, wōu-wōu in Cantonese, voff-voff in Icelandic, hau-hau in Finnish and Polish, haf-haf in Czech, hav-hav (pronounced like English how-how) in Slovak, guk guk in Indonesian, bub bub in Catalan, ghav-ghav in Modern Greek, wou wou in Teso, gâu gâu in Vietnamese, vaL vaL in Tamil, wāng-wāng in Mandarin, meong meong in Korean, and hong hong in Thai.

In the case of a frog croaking, the spelling can vary because different frog species around the world make different sounds: Ancient Greek brekekekex koax koax for probably Rana ridibunda; English ribbit for species of frog found in North America; English verb "croak" for Rana temporaria.

Uses of onomatopoeia

Some other very common English-language examples include hiccup, bang, beep, and splash. Machines and their sounds are also often described with onomatopoeia, as in honk or beep-beep for the horn of an automobile, and vroom or brum for the engine. In science fiction the sounds made by laser weapons are often described as "zaps". For animal sounds, words like quack (duck), bark (dog), roar (lion) and meow (cat) are typically used in English. Some of these words are used both as nouns and as verbs.

Agglutinative languages or synthetic languages flexibly integrate onomatopoeic words into their structure. This may evolve into a new word, up to the point that it is no longer recognized as onomatopoeia. One example is English "bleat" for the sheep noise: in medieval times it was pronounced approximately as "blairt" (but without an R-component), or "blet" with the vowel drawled, which is much more accurate as onomatopoeia than the modern pronunciation.

An example of the opposite case is "cuckoo", which, due to continuous familiarity with the bird noise down the centuries, has kept approximately the same pronunciation as in Anglo-Saxon times and has not changed to having its vowels as in "furrow".

Verbum dicendi is a method of integrating onomatopoeia and ideophones into grammar.

Occasionally, words for things are created from representations of the sounds these objects make. In English, for example, there is the universal fastener which is named for the onomatopoeic of the sound it makes: the zip (in the UK) or zipper (in the U.S.). Many birds are named from the onomatopoetic link with the calls they make, such as the Bobwhite quail, the killdeer, chickadee, the cuckoo, the chiffchaff, the whooping crane and the whip-poor-will. In Tamil and Malayalam, the word for crow is kaakaa. This practice is especially common in certain languages such as Māori and, therefore, in names of animals borrowed from these languages.

Advertising uses onomatopoeia as a mnemonic, so consumers will remember their products, as in Rice Krispies (US and UK) and Rice Bubbles (AU) which make a "snap, crackle, pop" when one pours on milk; or in road safety advertisements: "clunk click, every trip" (click the seatbelt on after clunking the car door closed; UK campaign) or "click, clack, front and back" (click, clack of connecting the seatbelts; AU campaign) or "click it or ticket" (click of the connecting seatbelt; US DOT campaign).

Manner imitation

In many of the world's languages, onomatopoeia-like words are used to describe phenomena apart from the purely auditive. Japanese often utilizes such words to describe feelings or figurative expressions about objects or concepts. For instance, Japanese barabara is used to reflect an object's state of disarray or separation, and shiiin is the onomatopoetic form of absolute silence (used at the time an English speaker might expect to hear the sound of crickets chirping or a pin dropping in a silent room). It is used in English as well with terms like bling, which describes the shine on things like gold, chrome or precious stones.

Onomatopoeia in pop culture

Whaam! (1963) by Roy Lichtenstein is an early example of pop art, featuring fighter aircraft being struck by rockets with dazzling red and yellow explosions.
Marvel Comics have trademarked two words of their own invention: thwip! , the sound of Spider-Man's web shooter, and snikt! the switchblade-sound of Wolverine's claws locking into place (which was replaced with the lesser-known schlikt during the period he was left without the adamantium covering on his bones). Marvel also uses the sound effect "bamf" to signify Nightcrawler's teleportation.
In Doctor Who comic strips, the sound of the Tardis is represented as vworp! vworp!
In the Garfield comic strip and television series, there is a running gag about a "splut," which is usually the sound of a pie hitting someone in the face.
- For example, Garfield once kicked Odie, but instead of 'kick' it said 'blagoonga', with Garfield remarking to Jon that Odie needs to be tuned
In the 1960s TV series “Batman”, comic book style onomatopoeias such as wham!, pow! and crunch appear onscreen during fight scenes. This is often the subject of parody, for example in the Simpsons episode "Radioactive Man" where the onomatopoeic words are replaced with snuh!, newt! and mint! which are references to other Simpsons episodes.
Ubisoft's XIII employed the use of comic book onomatopoeias such as bam!, boom and noooo! during gameplay for gunshots, explosions and kills, respectively. The comic-book style is apparent throughout the game and is a core theme, as the game is an adaptation of a comic book of the same name.
The onomatopoeia that is said to be heard at a typical Disco Biscuits (a popular jamband) show is untz. This description seems to have originated from an interview with Bob Dylan, who said "I kept hearing this, untz..untz..untz..untz..(sound in the background of all the music)...fun time, though... lots of young kids with dilated pupils."
In Jonathan Swift's novel Gulliver's Travels, the name of the Houyhnhnm's is an onomatopoeia for the whinny of a horse.
Todd Rundgren wrote a humorous song "Onomatopoeia" which uses many examples in this "Love Song". Examples in the song start out reasonable and start to get more ludicrous as the song goes on.
The comic strip For Better or For Worse is notorious for using non-onomatopoeic verbs as onomatopoeias, such as "Scrape," to indicate a person shaving, or "Tie," to illustrate someone tying a string around a package.
A well-known rhetorical question is "Why doesn't onomatopoeia sound like what it is?". Ian M. Banks references this in his novel Use Of Weapons, when a character claims that the word onomatopoeia is spelled "just the way it sounds!".
Brian Preston, a popular Quizzo night host in Philadelphia used words like crash, boom, and fart to describe onomatopoeia. Unfortunately, fart is a non-onomatopoeia (although its Proto-Indo-European language ancestor perd- (compare Greek περδομαι and Avestic prd) is more realistic).
"Kerplunk" was used in the video game Final Fantasy VIII as the name of one of the Guardian Force Cactuar's attacks. For the Guardian Force Tonberry, the humorously out of place onomatopoeia of doink! is written on-screen during its powerful knife stab attack.
In the video game Brave Story: New Traveler, an onomatopoeia appears wherever an attack hits its target.
The fictional Vorpal blade from the poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carrol goes "snicker-snack" when used.
The January 8, 2008 comic of Ozy and Millie featured a panel in which Millie repeats the word "Splorsh" and Ozy quips "I've noticed you find Onomatopoeia extremely distracting."
"Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss", recorded by The Bloodhound Gang in 2005 for their "Hefty Fine" album simulated the driving beat of most popular House and Rave music styles.
In one Captain America comic, the accidental use of the word "wank" was found hilarious by many teenagers.
The marble game KerPlunk is an onomatopoeia for the sound of the marbles dropping when one too many sticks has been removed.

References

Crystal, David (1997) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language, Second Edition ISBN 0-521-55967-7
Greek Grammar

External links

onomatopoeia in Catalan: Onomatopeia

onomatopoeia in German: Onomatopoesie

onomatopoeia in Estonian: Onomatopöa

onomatopoeia in Spanish: Onomatopeya

onomatopoeia in Esperanto: Onomatopeo

onomatopoeia in Basque: Onomatopeia

onomatopoeia in Persian: نام‌آوا

onomatopoeia in French: Onomatopée

onomatopoeia in Galician: Onomatopea

onomatopoeia in Croatian: Onomatopeja

onomatopoeia in Indonesian: Onomatope

onomatopoeia in Interlingua (International Auxiliary Language Association): Onomatopeia

onomatopoeia in Italian: Onomatopea

onomatopoeia in Hebrew: אונומטופיה

onomatopoeia in Georgian: ონომატოპეა

onomatopoeia in Latin: Onomatopoeia

onomatopoeia in Limburgan: Onomatopee

onomatopoeia in Macedonian: Ономатопеја

onomatopoeia in Dutch: Onomatopee

onomatopoeia in Dutch Low Saxon: Onomatopee

onomatopoeia in Japanese: 擬声語

onomatopoeia in Norwegian: Lydord

onomatopoeia in Occitan (post 1500): Onomatopèia

onomatopoeia in Polish: Onomatopeja

onomatopoeia in Portuguese: Onomatopeia

onomatopoeia in Russian: Ономатопея

onomatopoeia in Simple English: Onomatopoeia

onomatopoeia in Slovenian: Onomatopeja

onomatopoeia in Finnish: Onomatopoeettinen

onomatopoeia in Swedish: Onomatopoesi

onomatopoeia in Ukrainian: Ономатопея

onomatopoeia in Chinese: 擬聲詞

Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words

bowwow theory, copying, counterfeiting, echoic word, emulation, fakery, following, forgery, hit-off, imitation, impersonation, imposture, impression, mimesis, mirroring, onomatope, onomatopoeic word, parody, plagiarism, plagiary, repetition, simulation, takeoff

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