Ka-boom, slurp, buzz or... Onomatopoeia!

Onomatopoeia: This long and strange-sounding word comes from the Greek noun onoma= name and the verb poio= make. Simly put onomatopoeic words are those words which immitate sounds. Onomatopoeia is "the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named". In Greek, onomatopoeia means the creation of names, but the word came into English via Latin in the sixteenth century and it refers to the "word which phonetically imitates the source of the sound it describes". 

Onomatopoeic words can be divided into 3 types: Direct onomatopoeia, associative onomatopoeia and exemplary onomatopoeia. However, I won't be explaining these terms here as they are slightly more complex. 

Onomatopoeic words have become an integral part of the English language and other languages around the world and I am sure you have come across some of them in comic books very often. In Batman comic books onomatopoeic words have been used so frequently when Batman and Robin fight their enemies that they were used in the films and TV series as well. There is also a character called "Onomatopoeia" who is Batman's enemy.

A recent example is Rico the penguin from "The Madagascar Penguins", the well-known animated TV series. He is the team's explosives specialist who usually communicates with grunts. In the episode "The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper" the only word he uses to express his desire to explode things is... KA-BOOM!! And this is the beauty of onomatopoeia. It is very easy to convey and understand meaning with just a single word!

                                                                                 watch the episode here 

Did you know that different languages have different onomatopoeic words?

Even though onomatopoeic words are associated with sounds, surprisingly -or not- enough sounds are NOT universal! Language sound systems and phonology differ greatly from one language to another. In the same way non-native speakers of English can't always tell the difference between /æ/ as in cat and /ʌ/ as in cut, onomatopoeic words sound different to different laguage speakers' ears. For example, in Greek the word you'd say if you didn't like the taste of something you ate, it'd be "μπλιαξ", pronounced as /mpliaks/. Whereas in English the word used in the same situation is "yuk". In Greek, the word to tell someone to be quiet would be "σουτ", pronounced as /sut/, whereas in English would be "hush". In English the word for the description of the sound the water makes when dripping from a tap is "drip drop", but in German is "plitsch platsch" and in French "plic ploc". The sound the water makes is the same but the way the ear perceives it varies according to the individual's mother-tongue. Another reason why speakers of different languages perceive and express similar sounds in different ways is because every word in a language must comply with the phonological rules of the language and the acceptable sound combinations. 

Typical examples of onomatopoeic words which are different among different languages are the sounds animals make. A common example is the sound a rooster makes in English. As you probably know, it is "cock-a-doodle-doo". For many speakers of other European languages this is very funny and makes no sense! You'll figure out why when I tell you what the words to describe the sound produced by the rooster are in Greek, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Romanian and Russian. "Κικιρίκου" (kikiriku), quiquiriqui, cucurucu, cocorico, quiquirici and kukareku respectively. Pretty similar, don't you think? I must admitt though that when I watched the video below, I found the sound of the rooster in Canadian-French much stranger than the one in English! Perhaps because I'm used to it. 

Animal sounds in different languages can be very funny, so that's why I'm posting this link from vimeo. 

I'm also posting a link with a list of several onomatopoeic words (including more animal sounds). Have a look at it to satisfy your curiosity!