“Tick tock, tick tock,” sounded the pendulum clock in the living room as everyone was hushed waiting for the midnight hour. Then the TV’s volume was turned up and the sound of fireworks filled the house, “pop, bang, fizz, whizz, whoosh, crackle, hiss, zip.” Happy New Year!
Onomatopoeia is the naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of the sound associated with it. The words listed above are a replication of the sounds heard. Words for animal sounds include cock-a-doodle-do, baa, quack, moo, and oink. Twang, click, vroom, and buzz are mechanical sounds. Vocal sounds include murmur, hiccup, snore, and belch. Sounds that nature makes, like rustle, whoosh, and drip, are onomatopoeia. Bam, clank, clang, smack, splat are impact sounds. Cooking sounds include sizzle, fizz, and pop.
English speakers have used the word onomatopoeia since the 1500’s. However, humans have been creating words inspired by the sounds heard around them since the dawn of history, all over the world, in all languages. An onomatopoeia doesn’t just describe sounds, it emulates the sound entirely. With this literary device, you can hear the meow of a cat, the whoosh of a bicycle, the whir of the laundry machine, and the murmur of a stream. Some onomatopoeia examples include the words boing, gargle, clap, zap, and pitter-patter. When these words are used in context, you can almost hear what they describe: the boing of a spring, the gargle of rising with mouthwash, the clap of chalkboard erasers, the zap of a bug captured in an electrical discharge insect control system, and the pitter-patter of rain blowing on a window.
Onomatopoeia comes directly from the ancient Greek language. The word is a combination of the noun onoma, name, plus the verb poiein, to make. Thus, name making.
Onomatopoeias present a conundrum to linguists and translators. One would assume that onomatopoeia words are the same across languages, since they are an imitation of the sound heard. Oddly enough, this isn’t the case. For example, while in English the sound a dog makes is “bow wow” in Japanese, it is “wan wan.”
How can this be? As an English speaker, you probably won’t hear “wan wan” no matter how much you listen to your dog. This mystery points towards the ways that language shapes reality. The primary language we speak restricts the sounds that we can produce and hear. While an English speaker certainly hears their dog’s bow wow, a Japanese speaker undoubtedly hears their dog’s wan wan.
There are many onomatopoeias that exist outside of dictionaries. Because these words attempt to represent real sounds, they can be made up for whatever occasion in writing and speaking. Also, some onomatopoeias have multiple definitions. “Jingle,” for example, sounds like Christmas bells, but it also means a catchy song for advertising.
Poets use images that demonstrate emotions and ideas, either literally or metaphorically. Onomatopoeia is one of the tools that poets employ to get a point across.
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) penned these words in The Bells,
“Oh, the bells, bells, bells!
What a tale their terror tells
Of Despair!
How they clang, and clash, and roar!
What a horror they outpour
On the bosom of the palpitating air!
Yet the ear it fully knows,
By the twanging,
And the clanging,
How the danger ebbs and flows;
Yet the ear distinctly tells,
In the jangling,
And the wrangling.”
Robert Browning (1812-1889) wrote an onomatopoeia poem about the Pied Piper:
“There was a rustling that seemed like a bustling
Of merry crowds justling at pitching and hustling,
Small feet were pattering, wooden shoes clattering,
Little hands clapping and little tongues chattering.”
Comic book authors often use onomatopoeia to get their points across. Words like pow and ker-plash help drive the action of the story. Sometimes, comic books will even make up words. In a Marvel Spider-Man comic book, the author regularly uses the word “thwip,” which is not a real word, to express the sound the hero’s web-shooters make. Often in comic books, the onomatopoeia words are woven into the graphics, which makes them even more impactful.
How many onomatopoeias can you come up with for the sounds you hear every day in your home? Maybe you could write a poem too.
John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to wordwisdom2021@gmail.com . Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
