Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[BMO]

Does this include human voices like aha, yeah, ouch?

[obelix]

No, I don't think so.

[BMO]

Onomatopoeia is words mimicing the sounds it represents. It seems to me Ouch spells out the sound 'ouch,' and is no difference from buzz representing a bee's buzz, but I can't find an explanation that this is not so.

Could you please separate the two for me please?

Thans again.

BMO

[bud]

The difference is that when a bee flies, it makes a sound that we approxiamte with the word 'buzz.' When a person hurts himself he is likely to say "Ouch," but it is not an approximation of the sound of the accident. It is merely a response to the pain.

Hope that helps.

[BMO]

And that goes for aha, yoo-hoo, wow, etc., right? Exclamations are not onomatopoeia, right? What is the difference between a sound word and an onomatopoeia?

Amer Heritage Dict notes [Imitative] after buzz, boohoo, bow-wow. When it says "Imitative" that means the word is an onomatopoeia?

Thanks for your explanation, it is getting clearer.

BMO

[bud]

And that goes for aha, yoo-hoo, wow, etc., right?
--- Right! They are not examples of onomatopoeia because they do not imitate other sounds. Each makes a sound, of course, as you say the word, but they do not imitate some other sound. They are no more onomatopoeic than 'the,' 'swim' or 'chair.'

Exclamations are not onomatopoeia, right?
--- Right!.. Often onomatopoeic words are used as exclamations, but the reverse is not true. That is, "Aha!" is never onomatopoeic, but "Bow wow!" would often be used as an exclamation. Ex.: You might say "Bow Wow!" to a dog that is barking at you to try to convey that it doesn't scare you.

What is the difference between a sound word and an onomatopoeia?
--- All words have a sound when spoken, so I think by saying 'sound word' you mean a word that imitates another sound. That is what onomatopoeia is.

Amer Heritage Dict notes [Imitative] after buzz, boohoo, bow-wow. When it says "Imitative" that means the word is an onomatopoeia?
--- Yes. (At least I can't think of any other reason for noting a word as 'imitative.')

Thanks for your explanation, it is getting clearer.
--- My pleasure! I'm glad it helped!

[BMO]

100% clear, very, very clear. Thanks a lot.
Well, I am adding this: are chant, bark, whistle, and rattle onomatopoeia? I don't see [Imitative] at the end of explanations in my dictionary.

BMO

[bud]

Glad you're clearer, BMO.

Definitely not: chant (chants are low, throaty sounds, and 'chant' is not a simulation of such sounds)

Probably not: whistle, rattle (I can't imagine either of these as representing the sounds made while whistling or rattling)

Maybe: bark (this could possibly be imagained as a simulated dog sound)

[asterix]

Not bark either.
You can have Woof and yap, though[/i]

[BMO]

Thank you all. Indeed, AHD doesn't say bark is an [Imitative]. I got stuck thinking that I had read somewhere there is an extended definition of onomatopoeia that includes the words I have mentioned.

Then is there a linguistic term for words of this sort, bark, chant, whisper, aha, yoo-hoo, etc.

BMO

[bud]

I'm not aware of any linguistic term that includes those words, BMO.

[BMO]

Thanks.
BMO

Th following site seems to suggest there is a broader defination of onomatoepia. Rattle and knock are two of those in this broader definition. (These two words were not "made" from imitating sounds, but their pronunciations are coincidently linked to some sounds.)


http://www.lovetolearnplace.com/Curriculum/Literary/Onomatopoeia.html.

The above website says, "Onomatopoeia = Words that imitate sounds or sounds that are linked with objects. In short, literary sound effects.

"More onomatopoeia examples:
splash, knock, roar, whinnying, bong, hiss, buzz, pow, bang, cluck
thump, pop, splashy, wow, kerplunk, gush, tinkle, smash, growl
crunch, click, sizzle, clattered, clanged, rattle, baa, babble, clip, whinny
clunk, ring, swish, swoosh, clank, whine, wheeze, wheezy, clop, squish, zip
woof, slurp, clap, tick tock, drip, scratch, clippety-clop, *beep*-a-doodle-do
flip-flop, fizz, cuckoo, ding dong, boom, beep, rip, boo-hoo, choo-choo,
bow-wow, argh, ouch, belch, blab, blare, bleat, thud, screech, bark
abuzz, bleep, bray, crack, creak, croak, crow, murmur, pit-pat, sob
spatter, splutter, squeak, varoom, clickety clack, yippity yap
clink, clank, woof, crash, munch, hic, purr, meow, burp, hiss, squeal
screech, crackle, zowie, rustling, click, clack

[bud]

Okay. I would suppose that onomatopoeia is somewhat of a subjective thing. There are a handful of words in their list that, to my ear, do not belong. Someone else may think that they clearly belong.

I remember coming across something a few years ago that said that different languages represent the sounds of animals differently. The reason is that each language has its own set of sounds. In English, we can hear a dog bark and hear "Woof!" A speaker of a language without a 'w'-sound would not hear the 'w.' They would instead hear a sound in the bark that we don't hear.

It is not an important issue whether or not a word is onomatopoeic, but it sure is interesting. Thanks for the topic.

[BMO]

Hey, thanks a lot, that settles it. It is an easy way for an ESL learner to pick up a few words easily. And you are right, in Mandarin Chinese, we call a bee's flying sound, ong, ong, whereas in English it is buzz. The Chinese wang-wang is what is in English woof, woof, a dog's bark. Cat's meow is identical.

Thank you all for all the great responses.

BMO