Onomatopoeia Essay example - 696 Words

Onomatopoeia Because of its special status symbolizing sound, onomatopoeia has the distinction of being the only aspect of English where there is an intrinsic connection between the language and the ‘real world’. It is well known that the connection between words and their referents is arbitrary; house is no more appropriate than mansion (French) or casa (Spanish). Onomatopoeic words, however, may have a physical connection with their referents; the sound of wind is created by air moving through a restricted passage and this description is equally valid for the fricative consonants which may be used to represent the wind in a poetic context: I lay in an agony of imagination as the wind†¦show more content†¦The onomatopoeic words, then, form one strand in a complex interweaving of lexical, grammatical and phonological effects. More unusual uses of conventional onomatopoeia include those where the suggestion of sounds is unexpected: The woman in the block of ivory soap has massive thighs that neigh, great breasts that blare and strong arms that trumpet. This extract from The Woman in the Ordinary by Marge Piercy uses onomatopoeic words to suggest a figurative connection between parts of the woman’s body and certain sounds. The overall effect of there lines is one of enormous strength; her thighs are like great horses, her breasts, perhaps, have the power of high amplitude loudspeakers. Often the choice of a single onomatopoeic word has an extraordinary power to evoke the sound it conveys. This is true of one of the many effective words in Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Owen: If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the forth-corrupted lungs, †¦ The production of a velar plosive, /g/, sound involves a constriction of the throat similar to the action of gargling and its repetition in the word (possibly three times for some accents of English) reflects the repetitive nature of theShow MoreRelatedVowel and Introduction Onomatopoeia1583 Words   |  7 PagesOnomatopoeia Abstract è ± ¡Ã¥ £ °Ã¨ ¯ Ã¥Å" ¨Ã¨ ¯ ­Ã¨ ¨â‚¬Ã©â€¡Å'Ã¥ ±Å¾Ã¤ ºÅ½Ã¦ ¯â€Ã¨ ¾Æ'ä ¸ Ã¥ â€"é‡ Ã¨ §â€ Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¤ ¸â‚¬Ã§ ± »Ã¨ ¯ ­Ã¨ ¨â‚¬Ã¯ ¼Å'å›  Ã¥â€¦ ¶Ã¥  £Ã¨ ¯ ­Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¦â€ž Ã¥â€˜ ³Ã¦ ¯â€Ã¨ ¾Æ'æ µâ€œÃ©â€¡ Ã¯ ¼Å'å›  Ã¨â‚¬Å'ç  â€Ã§ © ¶Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¤ º ºÃ¥ ¾Ë†Ã¥ °â€˜Ã£â‚¬â€šÃ¦Å" ¬Ã¦â€"‡å  ªÃ¦Ëœ ¯Ã¥ ¯ ¹Ã¨ ± ¡Ã¥ £ °Ã¨ ¯ Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¤ ¸â‚¬Ã¤ ¸ ªÃ¥ ° Ã¨ ® ®Ã¯ ¼Å'ä »Å½Ã¦ ¦â€šÃ¥ ¿ µÃ¯ ¼Å'ä »Å½Ã¤ ½Å"ç” ¨Ã¯ ¼Å'通è ¿â€¡Ã¤ ¸ ¾Ã¤ ¾â€¹Ã¥ ­ Ã¦  ¥Ã¨ § £Ã¨ ¯ »Ã¨ ± ¡Ã¥ £ °Ã¨ ¯ Ã£â‚¬â€šÃ©â‚¬Å¡Ã¨ ¿â€¡Ã§Å'Å"æÆ' ³Ã¥â€™Å'è ® ºÃ¨ ¯ Ã¯ ¼Å'é˜ Ã©â€¡Å Ã¤ ºâ€ Ã¨ ± ¡Ã¥ £ °Ã¨ ¯ Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¨ µ ·Ã¦ º Ã¯ ¼Å'ä » ¥Ã¥ Å Ã¨ ± ¡Ã¥ £ °Ã¨ ¯ Ã¨ ¯ Ã¦â‚¬ §Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¦â€ ¹Ã¥ ËœÃ£â‚¬â€š Key words: Onomatopoeia, Function, Origin, Nature of Onomatopoeia. Introduction Onomatopoeia is very important not only in our oral language but in our literary language like poets. It is not easy to have a study on them because of its tremendous number and complex pronunciation system. This small article mainly focus on the origin of onomatopoeia, theRead MoreOnomatopoeia726 Words   |  3 PagesZoom is not even a real word since it does not come from any human language, but is an imitation of a sound like buzz burr and whirr. There is an Old Dutch and German word soom, referring to something that was sewn, but this is not how it was ever used in English. Nor does anyone really know when it was first used in English, but it appears to date from the 1880s and 1890s and was originally used as a verb to express speed or rapid movement of an object. One possible sentence would be theRead MoreEssay about Death of a Naturalist Analysis455 Words   |  2 Pagesshows how filthy and grubby nature can be describing the sight, smell, sound, and touch. All of them bri ng out another grueling picture in the mind. Heaney uses onomatopoeia to appeal to the sound part of the senses. Words like slap, pop, slobber, farting, and croaked illustrates the realism of how the flax-dam is. The use of using onomatopoeia is to describe the nature and the surroundings, and to show the uncertainty that is going through the boy’s mind in the second stanza. Sibilant sounds are alsoRead MoreEssay on Langston Hughes The Weary Blues1421 Words   |  6 Pagespatterns. The Blues, a type of jazz, also follows this similar style. Langston Hughes poem, The Weary Blues, is no exception. The sound qualities that make up Hughes work are intricate, yet quite apparent. Hughes use of consonance, assonance, onomatopoeia, and rhyme in The Weary Blues gives the poem a deep feeling of sorrow while, at the same time, allows the reader to feel as if he or she is actually listening to the blues sung by the poems character.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Blues musical move was prominentRead More Compare and Contrast Death of a Naturalist, An Advancement of Learning1603 Words   |  7 Pagesmetaphors, use of senses and onomatopoeias. In ‘Death of a Naturalist’, an example of alliteration is â€Å"croaked†, it is use to describe the noise the frogs were making. An example of war words is â€Å"grenades†; it is used to describe the position of frogs. An example of personification is â€Å"angry†. It is used to describe the frog’s feelings. An example of a simile is â€Å"grew like clotted water†; it is used to describe how the frogspawn was growing. An example of onomatopoeia is â€Å"slap and plop†. It isRead More Heaneys Poem Follower Essay1600 Words   |  7 Pagesplough. At the end of the first stanza he describes him leading the team of plough-horses, instructing them with his â€Å"clicking tongue†. In the second stanza his father guides the horses with â€Å"a single pluck Of Rains†. It is interesting that the onomatopoeia here emphasises the great skill with which the poet’s father controls and guides his horses. It shows again his â€Å"expertise† and ease with the animals as he ploughs the field into furrowed lines. In the second half of the poem, the focus shiftsRead MoreJohn Keats s Poem Analysis1328 Words   |  6 Pagesand this level deals in onomatopoeia. An expansion of the term â€Å"onomatopoeia† is necessary to fully understand the subtlety Keats exhibited. A critic named Hugh Bredin divides onomatopoeia into three forms in a succinct, yet informative manner. The first and most obvious form of onomatopoeia is the Direct form. This form brings the written word and expressed noise together directly. An example of the Direct form resides in the word â€Å"POW.† The Direct form of onomatopoeia has its place in poetryRead MoreSounds Of Poetry : The Word Plum And Sound And Sense1345 Words   |  6 Pagesdesires even if they have a small meaning or no meaning to them. A poem that is filled with sound but little meaning can be â€Å"The Word Plum† by Helen Chasin. It is a poem that uses the sound devices of alliteration and onomatopoeia to bring the plum to life. Us ing alliteration and onomatopoeia it gives the plum a sound, a savory sound, it’s almost like you can taste and touch the plum in the palm of your hand and the sounds are just rolling off the tongue with every â€Å"delicious† bite of â€Å"luxury†. In theRead MoreSecretary Chant1533 Words   |  7 Pagesto comprehend the extent to which the secretary feels degraded. In â€Å"The Secretary Chant† Piercy conveys her inner feelings of the secretary using several literary elements that help influence the theme of the poem including: metaphorical tone, onomatopoeia, repetition, and imagery. The tone of the poem seems to be very monotonous and emotionless. The poem begins with the sentence â€Å"My hips are a desk† (Line1). This sentence gives off a very robotic tone for the poem due to its simplicity and shortRead MoreThe Chimney Sweeper Essay765 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Chimney Sweeper by William Blake† In William Blake’s poem, the reader will read about the first person point of view of a child going through a neglected life of child labour and slavery. In the poem, â€Å"The Chimney Sweeper†, Blake’s use of onomatopoeia conveys the emotions of the character in the poem. William Blake uses symbolism in his poem which gives the reader a better understanding of the message he is trying to convey. As well, Blake’s use of colors and adjectives provides the reader