Onomatopoeia

                                                                                        Definition of Onomatopoeia

In the realm of linguistic study, it is commonly accepted that individual sounds do not represent any particular meanings. It is, for instance, meaningless to ask what [p] or [a] mean. The sound for the word of a particular meaning is arbitrary; therefore there is generally no connection between sound and meaning. This, however, is not absolutely correct, as we have neglected the existence of a class of words, namely onomatopes, which do appear in the everyday use of language quite often.

As its Greek root suggests, onomatopoeia is the making (poiein) of a name or word (onoma) from natural sound. Onomatopoeia are thus imitative words of these natural sounds. Onomatopes are found in all languages of the world, and some linguists in fact believe onomatopes were the first words human spoke when language was developed. Since direct imitation allows the hearer to understand the meaning most easily, it is the most obvious way to describe actions (e.g. punch, boom) and animals (e.g. cock, dodo), which constitute the most parts of the conversation between primordial human. Therefore, the hypothesis is indeed reasonable. These primitive sounds have evolved over time, the remnants have become today’s onomatopes, and even some words which we do not usually regard as onomatopes. For instance, when animals are mating, they often open their mouths and produce a sound like [ha].

Functions of Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia are not merely “playthings” which children learn in kindergarten, even adults do use a lot of onomatopes, with or without noticing it. As a matter of fact, languages such as Japanese rely a great deal on onomatopes to describe actions. When onomatopes are used, there are four main functions:

1. To enrich the contents of the article, by giving more vivid description of the environment;

2. To increase the degree of musicality, since onomatopes are words that imitate natural sounds;

3. To deepen the impression of readers towards the message, because onomatopes “audiolize” the picture;

4. To maximize the reality of the situation so that the readers can get a real acoustic sensation of the whole picture.

Parts of Onomatopoeia

There are some parts of onomatopoeia:

1.     Onomatopoeia in Poetry

The function of Onomatopoeia in poetry is to create musicality in the spoken words, and reinforce the overall theme of the poem. Onomatopoeia in poetry is often used to create the rhythmical cadences of music, without the addition of actual instrumentation.

The use of onomatopoeia in poetry may also be paired with other literary devices to create theme.

Example          :           On the Ning Nang Nong by Spike Milligan

On the Ning Nang Nong
Where the Cows go Bong!
and the monkeys all say BOO!
There's a Nong Nang Ning
Where the trees go Ping!
And the tea pots jibber jabber joo.
On the Nong Ning Nang
All the mice go Clang
And you just can't catch 'em when they do!
So its Ning Nang Nong
Cows go Bong!
Nong Nang Ning
Trees go ping
Nong Ning Nang
The mice go Clang
What a noisy place to belong
is the Ning Nang Ning Nang Nong!!

2.      Onomatopoeia in Song

The function of Onomatopoeia in songs is to reinforce a musical concept or theme addressed by the lyrics. The sound the word approximates may be repeated or duplicated instrumentally during the song, or the word itself may stand in for an instrument that the singer cannot readily obtain. These musical sounding words may also be paired with similar sounding words to complete rhyming couplets. Onomatopoeia in songs can serve to reinforce any musical concept that is addressed by the lyrics.

Example          :          

Old MacDonald Lyrics

Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O,
And on his farm he had some chicks, E I E I O.
With a chick chick here and a chick chick there,
Here a chick, there a chick, ev'rywhere a chick chick.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O,
And on his farm he had a cow, E I E I O.
With a moo moo here and a moo moo there,
Here a moo, there a moo, ev'rywhere a moo moo.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O,
And on his farm he had a pig, E I E I O.
With an oink oink here and an oink oink there,
Here an oink, there an oink, ev'rywhere an oink oink.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O,
And on his farm he had some geese, E I E I O.
With a honk honk here and a honk honk there,
Here a honk, there a honk, ev'rywhere a honk honk.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O,
And on his farm he had a horse, E I E I O.
With a neh neh here and a neh neh there,
Here a neh, there a neh, ev'rywhere a neh neh.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O,
And on his farm he had a mule, E I E I O.
With a hee haw here and a hee haw there,
Here a hee, there a hee, ev'rywhere a hee haw.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O.

Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O,
And on his farm he had a duck, E I E I O.
With a quack quack here and a quack quack there,
Here a quack, there a quack, ev'rywhere a quack quack.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O.

3.     Onomatopoeia in Comic

The function of Onomatopoeia in Comic is a word or a grouping of words that imitates the sound it is describing, suggesting its source object, such as “click,” “buzz,” or “bluuuh,” or animal noises such as “oink”, “quack”, or “meow”. The word is a synthesis of the Greek words “onoma” (name) and “poio” (verb meaning “to create”) thus it essentially means “name creation”.