Onomatopoeia

ONOMATOPOEIA

In languages, there are words that imitate or echo sounds. It creates a sound effect that mimics the thing described, making the description more expressive and interesting.

There are some examples of onomatopoeia:

• The buzzing bee flew away.
• The sack fell into the river with a splash.
• The books fell on the table with a loud thump.
• He looked at the roaring sky.
• The rustling leaves kept me awake.

The different sounds of animals are also considered as examples of onomatopoeia:

·         Meow

·         Moo

·         Neigh

·         Tweet

·         Oink

·         Baa

Onomatopoeic words come in combinations as they reflect different sounds of a single object. For example, a group of words reflecting different sounds of water are; plop, splash, gush, sprinkle, drizzle, drip etc.

Similarly, words like growl, giggle, grunt, murmur, blurt, chatter etc. denote different kinds of human voice sounds.

Moreover, we can identify a group of words related to different sounds of wind, such as; swish, swoosh, whiff, whoosh, whizz, whisper etc.

Examples of onomatopoeia in literature:

1.       Ariel in William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Act One, scene 2

“Hark, hark!

Bow-wow.
The watch-dogs bark!

Bow-wow.
Hark, hark! I hear

The strain of strutting chanticleer

Cry, ‘cock-a-diddle-dow!'”

2.       “The Marvelous Toy” by Tom Paxton

“It went zip when it moved and bop when it stopped,

And whirr when it stood still.

I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will.”

(http://literarydevices.net/onomatopoeia/)