In Rhetoric , Linguistics and Poetry , is a Figure Of Speech that employs a Word , or occasionally, a grouping of words, that imitates, echoes, or suggests the object it is describing, such as "bang" or "click", or animal noises such as "moo", "quack" or " Meow ".
Onomatopoeic words exist in every language, although they are different in each. For example:-
- In Latin , ''tuxtax'' was the equivalent of "bam" or "whack" and was meant to imitate the sound of blows landing.
- In Ancient Greek , ''koax'' was used as the sound of a frog croaking.
- In Japanese , ''dokidoki'' is used to indicate the beating of a heart.
- Whereas in Hindi , the word ''Dhadak'' (''pr.'' DHUD-uck) is the word for a person's heartbeat, indicative of the sound of one single beat.
Sometimes onomatopoeic words have a very tenuous relationship with the object they describe, such as ''bow-wow'' in English and ''wang-wang'' in Chinese for the sound a dog makes.
Some animals are named after the sounds they make, especially birds such as the Cuckoo and Chickadee . This practice is especially common in certain languages such as Māori and therefore in names for birds borrowed from these languages.
Some other very common English-language examples include:
- Bang
- Beep
- Boing
- Bonk
- Boom
- Burp
- Boosh
- Clap
- Clunk
- Crackle
- Ding-dong
Aside from the above, Machine s are usually described with:
- Automobile - "honk" for the horn, "vroom" for the engine, "screech" for the tires, "eroonga" for the gears
- Train - "clickety-clack" crossing a Junction , "choo-choo" for the whistle.
- Cash Register - "ka-ching"/"ca-ching"/"cha-ching"/"che-ching"
- Jet - "whoosh"
For Animal sounds, these words are typically used in English :
- Bird - " Chirp ", " Tweet "
- --- Bobwhite Quail - "bob-white! bob-bob-white!"
- --- Chickadee - "chickadee"
- --- Chicken - " Cluck ", "cackle", "bawk", "bwak", " Buck "
- --- Crow - "caw"
- --- Dove - " Coo ", " Roo-coo "
- --- Duck - " Quack "
- --- Owl - " Whoo ", " Hoo " or " Hoot "
- --- Rooster - "cock-a-doodle-doo", "tiktilaok" ( PH )
- --- Turkey - "gobble"
- Insect s - " Buzz "
- --- Bee - "buzz", "bzzz"
- Mammals
- --- Cat - " Meow " ( US )/"miow" ( UK )/"miauw"( NL ), "mereow" (US)/"miaow" (UK), " Purr ", " Niaou " (Greek)
-- Lion - " Roar ", " Rawr "
- --- Cow - " Moo "
- --- Dog - " Woof ", "ruff", "arf", " Grrr " (see Bark ), "whimper"
- --- Dolphin - " Click "
- --- Donkey - " Hee-haw "
- --- Horse - "neigh", "whinny", " Snort "
- --- Human - "prattle", " Blab ", " Blah blah", " Murmur ", "brouhaha", " Bar Bar ", "yadda yadda", "ra ra ra", "squee"
- --- Mouse / Rat - " Squeak "
- --- Pig - " Oink ", " Wee -wee-wee"
- --- Sheep - " Baa "
- --- Wolf - " Howl ", "aroo"
- Reptiles
- --- Snake - " Hiss ", "sss"
- Amphibians
- --- Frog - " Ribbit ", "croak" (''Note: many species of frog make different calls.'')
- --- Toad - "tibbur"/"tibbir"
Some of these words are used both as nouns and as verbs.
Examples in literature often strive to be more suggestive than imitative:
- "Over the cobbles he ''clattered'' and ''clashed'' in the dark innyard". Alfred Noyes ''The Highwayman''
- "My days have ''crackled'' and gone up in smoke..." Francis Thompson ''The Hound Of Heaven ''
- "And ere three shrill notes the pipe he uttered, / You heard as if an army ''muttered''; / The ''muttering'' grew to a ''grumbling''; / And the ''grumbling'' grew to mighty ''rumbling''; / And out of the house the rats came tumbling." Robert Browning ''The Pied Piper Of Hamelin''
- "The ''moan'' of doves in immemorial elms, / And ''murmuring'' of innumerable bees. Alfred Lord Tennyson
- "The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!" Jabberwocky
- "ta-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa-pocketa" James Thurber '' The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty '' {Link without Title}
It is sometimes the case that an item of onomatopoeia describes a phenomenon apart from the aural. The Japanese Language is especially renowned for utilizing onomatopoeia to describe soundless concepts. For instance, Japanese ''bara bara'' is an onomatopoeic form reflecting a scattered state, and is considered to be imitative without being auditory. Perhaps amusingly, ''shiiin'' in Japanese stands for the "sound" of silence. (See Japanese Sound Symbolism .)
While almost all examples in common English usage imitate sounds, the language is not entirely devoid of non-auditory onomatopoeia. A few such words have gaining parlance recently, including '' Bling Bling '', the "sound" of light reflecting off diamonds; and the Simpsons -inspired '' Yoink '', the "sound" of someone stealing something. Another example would be ''flump'', which seems to perfectly sum up the 'soundless experience' of ''flumping'' (dropping) heavily into/onto a settee or chair when exhausted.
Advertising uses onomatopeoia as a Mnemonic so consumers will remember their products:
- Rice Krispies - "Snap, crackle, pop" when you pour on milk.
- Alka-Seltzer - makes a "plop, plop, fizz, fizz" noise when dunked in water.
- Cocoa Puffs - a freaky bird is " Cuckoo " for them.
- Road safety: "clunk click, every trip" (click the seatbelt on after clunking the car door closed; UK campaign)
- Road safety - "click clack, front and back"
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 zipper. As another example, young children and their parents often refer to a locomotive as a "choo-choo", after the sound of a train whistle.
A number of animals, especially Bird s, also get their names from the onomatopoeic link with the calls they make, such as the Chickadee , the Cuckoo , the Whooping Crane , and the Chiffchaff .
- The images Blam (1962) & Whaam! (1963) by Roy Lichtenstein are two of the earliest examples of pop art, featuring empty fighter aircraft being struck by rockets with dazzling red and yellow explosions.
- In Mario games, Thwomp is the sound that the big crush block makes, and is also the name of the monster. Whomp is Thwomp's brother, and WHOMP! is the onomatopia that Whomp would make. In the original Japanese, Thwomp is called Dossun, which has a similar aural connotation.
- In the 1960s TV series "Batman" , Onomatopoeias such as "WHACK" and "CRUNCH" appear onscreen when said sounds are made during fight scenes.
- Many Onomatopoeias evolve into full-fledged slang and eventually work their way into popular vernacular or even into recognized words. Some examples include "bang", which is common slang in Ebonics and Hiphop , as well as urban slang in the forms of " Gang Bang " which means to participate in gang activity, and also the term "banging" (pronouced with a hard "en" sound as in the common alternate spelling "bangin'") which means good, as in "this food is bangin'. This is also seen with words like "rat tat tat tat tat", a reference to gun fire. This can be seen in pop music and other music, slangs, sub cultures and such as well, as is seen in the Hanson song "MMM Bop".
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