It Sounds Like...Onomatopoeia!

It Sounds Like...Onomatopoeia!

The world is full of different sounds. Some sounds are pleasing to hear, like a bird's voice. Other sounds hurt your ears, like a loud machine. But how do we explain in words what a sound is? For example, how do you describe the sound a dog makes? Also, does everyone hear that sound the same way?

Every language in the world has words that express sounds. These are called onomatopoetic words. When a person says an onomatopoetic word, the sound of the word copies the natural sound the word is identifying.

Let's say you walk past an angry dog. What sound does the dog make?

Woof. Woof. Woof.

When a native English-speaker says the word woof, the pronunciation is somewhat similar to the sound the dog makes. But, a native Russian-speaker would not agree. They would say dogs make the sound gav gav. A native Korean-speaker would say mung mung. These sounds are expressed differently in different languages because every language uses sound in different ways.

The noises animals make are not the only examples of onomatopoetic words. Imagine you are walking down a street on a rainy day. A car drives by very fast. Zoom¹. As the car passes you, it drives through some water. Splash². You close the front of your jacket to protect yourself. Zip. These words are all nouns that express the sound effect you are hearing.

Some sounds even define³ the objects that make them. Do you remember closing your jacket to protect yourself? The zipper⁴ is the object that connects the front parts of a jacket by joining the sets of metal teeth along the edges.

In comic books, we often see these sound effects written in the pictures. These words help the reader imagine sounds in the story.

Onomatopoetic words are not only nouns, though. Imagine you are in a quiet restaurant. Suddenly, the people next to you start to have an argument.

Anna: I can't believe you lied to me!

Jonathan: Shhhh! We are in public!

Anna: Don't shhhh me!

When you tell someone shhhh, you are saying the situation requires quiet. In the conversation you just heard, Anna responds to Jonathan by saying "Don't shhhh me." In this case, Anna is using shhhh as a verb. She means to say, "Don't tell me to be quiet."

Another example is one you probably hear every day. When you use a computer, you choose objects on the screen using a device called a mouse. Click. But, the action of choosing an object on a computer screen using a mouse is called clicking.

Now think back to the car passing you very quickly in the rain. What was the sound it made? Zoom. But, you can also say, "The car zoomed⁵ by me." This means the car drove by you at a very high speed.

Sometimes, onomatopoetic words are even used as adjectives. If you see something explode, you will often see the word boom⁶ used to describe the sound. This is because the sound of an explosion is low and deep, the way English speakers pronounce the word boom. Now listen to the actor James Earl Jones.

"Look, I can't tell you the secret of life, and I don't have any answers for you. I don't give interviews and I'm no longer a public figure. I just want to be left alone."

His voice sounds low and deep. You could say his voice is booming⁷.

Onomatopoetic words are not often used in formal language. But they are very common in everyday speech and there are hundreds of examples. They make languages more creative. Writers and musicians have used these types of words for many years to find a connection with the natural world.

Just listen to the music group Ylvis as they make an entire song about onomatopea!

Dog goes woof, cat goes meow,

bird goes tweet and mouse goes squeak⁸

Cow goes moo, frog goes croak⁹

and the elephant goes toot

Ducks say quack¹⁰ and fish go blub

And the seal goes ow ow ow

But there's one sound that no one knows

What does the fox say?

Ring-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!

Words in This Story

onomatopoetic words – n. words that copy natural sounds

pronunciation – n. the way in which the sound of word or name is made

jacket – n. a piece of clothing that is worn on your upper body over another piece of clothing such as a shirt

comic book(s) – n. a magazine that is made up of a series of drawings that tell a story or part of a story

screen – n. the part of a television or computer that you look at when you are using it

creative – adj. having or showing an ability to make new things or think of new ideas

1 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

2 splash   

v.溅，泼；n.溅泼声，溅出的水等，斑点

参考例句：

• I fell into the water with a splash.我跌入水中，激起水花四溅。
• There's a splash of paint on the white wall.白墙上溅上了一片油漆。

3 define   

vt.解释，下定义，阐述，限定，规定

参考例句：

• Please define the words.请解释这些字的意义。
• It's hard to define exactly what has changed.很难解释清楚到底发生了什么变化。

4 zipper   

n.拉链；v.拉上拉链

参考例句：

• The zipper is red.这条拉链是红色的。
• The zipper is a wonderful invention.拉链是个了不起的发明。

5 zoomed   

v.（飞机、汽车等）急速移动( zoom的过去式 )；（价格、费用等）急升，猛涨

参考例句：

• Traffic zoomed past us. 车辆从我们身边疾驰而过。
• Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停，喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 boom   

n.隆隆声；vt.发隆隆声

参考例句：

• The country is having a great boom in industry.这个国家的工业正蓬勃发展。
• Boom!Boom!Boom!A series of explosions shook the valley.轰！轰！轰！一连串爆破声震撼山谷。

7 booming   

adj.急速发展的v.激增( boom的现在分词 )；猛涨；发出隆隆声；以低沉有力的声音说话

参考例句：

• The opera singer has a deep, booming, masculine voice. 这位歌剧演唱家有一副深沉而又浑厚有力的嗓音。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He is booming as a teacher. 作为一位教师，他日趋成功。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 squeak   

n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密

参考例句：

• I don't want to hear another squeak out of you!我不想再听到你出声！
• We won the game,but it was a narrow squeak.我们打赢了这场球赛，不过是侥幸取胜。

9 croak   

vi.嘎嘎叫，发牢骚

参考例句：

• Everyone seemed rather out of sorts and inclined to croak.每个人似乎都有点不对劲，想发发牢骚。
• Frogs began to croak with the rainfall.蛙随着雨落开始哇哇叫。

10 quack   

n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子

参考例句：

• He describes himself as a doctor,but I feel he is a quack.他自称是医生，可是我感觉他是个江湖骗子。
• The quack was stormed with questions.江湖骗子受到了猛烈的质问。