Onomatopoeia

O__nomatopoeia__ Onomatopoeia (on-//uh//-mat-//uh//-pee-//uh//) is defined as the 'formation of a word by imitation of a sound made by or associated with its referent'- or more plainly, a word that //sounds like// the //sound// it describes. Common usages of onomatopoeia include animal-related sounds (e.g., meow, bark, quack, bleat), sounds such as bang, clash and clang, indicated loud, jarring noises, and even in advertising, onomatopoeia is common (especially when catering to children: see 'Kelloggs' Rice Krispies.) The word is synthesized from the Greek 'onoma', meaning 'name,' and 'poieō,' or 'I make/create.' Hence, the name means 'name creation.'

One of the interesting things about onomatopoeia is that, across languages, if the sound is the same for everyone (like the ticking of a clock), then the words and, given the same alphabet, and spellings are remarkably similar. For example, the tick of a clock is, in English, described as 'tick-tock.' In Norwegian, it is 'tikk-takk'. In Dutch, it is 'tik-tak'. Animal sounds are a little harder to define evenly, as different species of animal make different sounds; and also, depending on the language in question, sounds do register slightly differently in one's mind- explaining the small differences in the sound of the clock. For example, dogs, given their onomatopoeic speech in different languages, seem quite diverse. Naturally, we know they say 'woof', 'arf', and 'bow-wow' here in America, and in Dutch, ('woef,') in French, ('vaf vaf' or 'ouah ouah',) in German, ('wau wau',) and many other languages (specifically Indo-European languages seem to group together in this respect), the changes are subtle. However, in Arabic, the dogs switch places with donkeys and say 'haw haw'. In China, the dogs say 'wang wang.' In Thailand, 'hong hong'. Whether this is a byproduct of having different breeds of dogs in different areas or simply a different way of processing sound is unsure.


 * = **E__xamples in Poetry__ ** ||
 * = Storm

A cacophonous cannonade of thunder, doesn't it make you wonder? **pitter-patter** rain, pouring under, streets awash like tumult tundra, lucid lightning flash, **clip-clop** heels as people dash to take cover from the **splash** , when grey skies clear then listen here in quiet heavens doth now appear a rainbow.
 * blast **ing buss of blunder,

-William Thomas Dodd.  ||= **Bow-wow**, says the dog; **Mew, mew**, says the cat; **Grunt, grunt**, goes the hog; And <span style="color: rgb(141, 79, 186);">**squeak** goes the rat. <span style="color: rgb(146, 97, 168);">**Tu-whu**, says the owl; <span style="color: rgb(146, 97, 168);">**Caw, caw**, says the crow; <span style="color: rgb(146, 97, 168);">**Quack, quack**, says the duck; And what sparrows say you know. So, with sparrows, and owls, With rats, and with dogs, With ducks, and with crows, With cats and with hogs, A fine song I have made, To please you, my dear; And if it's well sung, 'Twill be charming to hear.

-"Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes" ||= <span style="display: block; font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: left;">TOOT! TOOT! TOURIST TRAIN

<span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**burp** ! bacon-bits bolted at breakfast <span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**pant** ing, preparing for Puffing-Billy paint-puff pretty-pout in pink-paste <span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**huff-puff**, hurry up highway-hilly

<span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**wow** ! Winter’s white-washed wonder tourists teetering towards train track <span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**ugh** ! utter urbanites, umbrellas under <span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**brrr** ! <span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**brrr** ! bent beneath brolleys-black

<span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**psst** ! peep at piously praying people chant chanson-chapters in chapel-church slippery-slide sleet sheers sloping steeple <span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**sniff** ! smoke! <span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**shh** ! silently source search

<span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**brrm** ! BMW barges bracken-fern, brakes beside bridge-trestle built behind Belgrave <span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**toot** ! <span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**toot** ! tottering, turning-train time takes bye! bystanders bawl at ballyraggers brave

<span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**nyah** ! <span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**nyah** ! nigglers nag, nightfall near even Emerald-lake’s empty of everyone <span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**hoorah** ! happy homecomers halting here <span style="color: rgb(61, 133, 62);">**fa-la-la** ! fabulous, fantastic, frolic-fun

-Lee Emmett || <span style="display: block; font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;"> G__eneral Usage and Effects__ <span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">A rhetorical device is a technique or usage of a language that gives a feeling or executes an effect on a reader. Onomatopoeia is one such device, a versatile element of language that can be used to create both dissonance, or //cacophony// (using harsh, jarring sounds for one effect) and //euphony// (using consonant, harmonious-sounding sounds for another).

In poetry, words are often chosen for the way they sound together as much as they are chosen for meaning. This institution could result in rhyming (where strategically placed words in a poem have similar/the same word endings), alliteration (repeating a consonant, normally at the beginning of the word), assonance (like alliteration, but relating to a vowel sound instead), or, naturally, onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia receives much criticism for being trite and overused, but the word may instead be 'abused', for when used correctly, it can lend a feeling to a poem that would not have been there otherwise.

Onomatopoeia can, naturally, appear as simple sound-related words. Pow. Clash. Bang. Screech. However, onomatopoeia lends itself well to being combined with alliteration (as in 'TOOT! TOOT!', above) to give an overall feel to a line- in the first two lines of the fourth stanza, the letters 'b' and 'r' are given dominance. This refers to the 'brrm!' sound at the beginning of the line- the sound of a car or other motorized vehicle. Although 'bracken' and 'brakes' and 'bridge' are not onomatopoeic words in themselves, the general effect of the line is onomatopoeic.

Onomatopoeia also appears to have a certain charm for children, as expressed by its common usage on products intended for children (again, see 'Kellogg's Rice Krispies', with the strategically named mascots, 'Snap, Crackle and Pop', referring to the sound that the cereal apparently makes when combined with milk.) It has also made itself quite a comfortable niche in comic books, where words such as 'pow' and 'crash' are often written in very large letters across the backround of a slide, giving a visual interpretation of the jarring sound.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> R__eferences__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Barto, Geoffrey. “Animal Sounds!” __Gbarto.com__. 20 Nov. 2008 < <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">http://www.gbarto.com/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">‌languages/‌animasounds.html>.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">CliffsNotes.com. //I don't get onomatopoeias! It's as hard to spell as it is to understand!// 20 Nov 2008 < <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">http://www.cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-305408,articleId-7984.html <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">>

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">“Full text of ‘Mother Goose’s Nursery Rhymes.’” __Archive.org__. 1817. 20 Nov. 2008 < <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">http://www.archive.org/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">‌stream/‌mothergoosesnurs00walt/‌mothergoosesnurs00walt_djvu.txt>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">“Onomatopoeia Poems.” __Voicesnet__. 2002-2008. 20 Nov. 2008 < <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">http://www.voicesnet.org/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">‌allpoemsonecategory.aspx?catid=OP0010>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">“What is Onomatopoeia?” __Wisegeek.com__. 2003-2008. 20 Nov. 2008 < <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">http://www.wisegeek.com/ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">‌what-is-onomatopoeia.htm>.