Onomatopoeia

=Summary=


 * Noun: ||  || # The naming of a thing or action by a vocal imitation of a thing associated with it (as //buzz, hiss//)
 * 1) The use words whose sound suggests the sense. || [[image:pow.jpg width="157" height="118"]] ||
 * Onomatopoeia** is the visual representation of an audible sound associated with an object or an action. It is a technique frequently used in poetry and other literary arenas to attain the dramatic effect of sound without specifically naming its source or cause.

=Origins=

Onomatopoeia originates from the Greek words which mean "name" and "I make". Common examples of onomatopoeia are animal sounds: "oink", "quack", "moo", etc. These sounds are not standard across languages. Rather, they conform to the linguistic system of the speaker. For example, in America we often say "knock-knock" to imitate the sound of someone knocking on a door, but Russian speakers typically say "tuc-tuc" to describe the same sound. Similarly, in Turkey a turkey's call is described as "glu glu". More examples of the sounds that animals make across a variety of different languages can be found at Derek Abbott's Animal Noise Page.

=Cultural Impact=

As previously noted, onomatopoeic words do not always transfer unchanged (or even in a similar form) from one language to another, however certain aspects of onomatopoetic words retain their impact across cultures. Possibly the most notable similarity seen across language communities is the fact that onomatopoeic terms often carry an intimate emotional attachment to sound, because of this connection, onomatopoetic words are capable of being exploited for their emotional resonance. This makes the choice between terms such as "boom" and "bang" far more nuanced than a simple one-to-one transliteration of sound to word. For example, while "boom" lets the audience know a loud noise has just occurred, "bang" can add the feeling of surprise. Advertising firms, political campaigns, artists, and authors (whether consciously aware or not) often use this aspect of onomatopoeia to influence their audience's emotional sensibilities.

Taboo is another common place in which onomatopoeia is employed. Whether the intention is to escalate or diminish conflict, onomatopoeia finds itself as a metonymic stand-in for another sensitive subject. Genitalia and excrement are often subjected to this treatment, using sounds to describe the act being committed, rather than stating outright the act itself. In this way, the opposite from emotional exploitation is done, rather an emotional filter is being constructed to abate the uncomfortable feelings cultural taboos produce.

Widely used in comic books & graphic novels (e.g. bang, crash, pow). Also used in advertising, such as for Rice Krispies cereal Snap, Crackle, and Pop, which became the names of the elves who are the mascots for the cereal. Obviously this is a technique that is utilized in all literary forms. Of considerable note is the fact that in academic or formal writing, onomatopoeic words are often disparaged as being improper or slang. Futurists and Dadaists explored this conflicted aspect of onomatopoeia, using its alienated status within language to explore feelings of alienation in a modern world applying it to their art, poetry, and manifestos. = =

=Visual and Literary Use=

F.T. Marinetti
F.T. Marinetti's //Zang Tumb Tuum// (1914) uses onomatopoeia throughout, and even the title "Zang Tumb Tuuum" (seen to the right here) is onomatopoetic of a bomb. In this excerpt (see below) from //Zang Tumb Tuum// Marinetti uses the word "express" and "press" in such a way as to make it onomatopoetic of the sound the train's breaks make. He manages to expand the use of onomatopoeia even to words that are not inherently associated with the thing.

train train fever of my train express-express-expressssssss press-press press-press-press-press-press-press-press-press- press-press-pressssssss stung by the sea salt

Marinetti's "After the Marne..." (seen to the left here) uses letters, numbers, and mathematical symbols in a visual format to onomatopoetically indicate mountains, rivers, tank or wheel tracks, and what can be interpreted as either military battalions or graves.

Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein uses onomatopoeia in her //Tender Buttons// (1914), a book of verse. It has been termed "a masterpiece of verbal Cubism" which conveys sounds an d words in a new light. [|Stein: Tender Buttons]

from "Mildred's Umbrella." cause and extra a loud **clash** and an extra wagon, a

from "Suppose an Eyes." Suppose a collapse in rubbed **purr**, in rubbed **purr** get.

These examples from //Tender Buttons// show that onomatopoeia doesn't have to have context in order to still be an accurate representation of onomatopoeia.

Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound's //Cathay// also utilizes onomatopoeia in a unique fashion:

from "The River Song" And high over the willows, the fine birds sing to each other, and listen, Crying---"**Kwan, Kuwan**," for the early wind, and the feel of it.

Here "Kwan, Kuwan," is an example of how onomatopoeia is different in different languages. This is a book of poems translated from Chinese. In America we may say that a bird sounds like "chirp, chirp" or "peep, peep", but for this poet in China it is "Kwan, Kuwan".

William Carlos Williams
William Carlos Williams in his //Spring and All// (1923). W.C.W.: Spring and All is also not what many consider to be conventional onomatopoeia as it is used to imitate the sound of the sea.

"XX" from //Spring and All// The sea that encloses her young body is the sea of many arms--
 * ula lu la lu**

...

a wink over the shoulder large as the ocean-- with wave following wave to the edge


 * Oom barroom**

=Other Items of Interest=

media type="youtube" key="q-BVwwKTjlI" height="315" width="420" align="left"The visual representations of the sounds used in this clip provide examples of onomatopoeia. The words such as 'bark', 'crash', or 'waaa' are our visual representations for the sounds that dogs, colliding vehicles, and crying babies make. Onomatopoeic words, due to their auditory nature, make for ideal candidates in visual arts such as this. Additionally, pre-existing knowledge doesn't bar comprehension of the material. In this video, a clock is heard and on-screen we're shown:

KOO-KOO

KOO-KOO

There exists a word in English for this, and it's the 'cuckoo clock.' With its high pitched "KOO" sliding down to its much lower pitch 'KOO' this sound covers a lot of auditory range. This offers food for thought as to whether this is why we refer to people who are scatter-brained as 'cuckoo.'

Regardless of any intellectual queries posited by onomatopoeic terms, simple exposure to the words through daily life is enough to build up the necessary register of words to understand what's going on. When paired with images as they are in this video, explanation is typically built in.

media type="youtube" key="T5Xl0Qry-hA" height="315" width="420" align="right"Nancy Sinatra's "Bang Bang" provides an example of onomatopoeia being utilized for dramatic effect. The plosive 'b' that starts the word "bang" is essentially a large burst of air being released at the moment the lips open, and this explosive burst imitates the popping sound of a gun being shot. The lyrics of the song are as follows:

I was five and he was six, We rode on horses made of sticks, He wore black and I wore white, He would always win the fight

Bang bang, he shot me down, Bang Bang, I hit the ground, Bang bang, that awful sound, Bang bang, my baby shot me down

Seasons came and changed the time, When I grew up I called him mine, He would always laugh and say, Remember when we used to play Bang bang, I shot you down, Bang bang, you hit the ground, Bang bang, that awful sound, Bang bang, I used to shoot you down

Music played and people sang, Just for me the church bells rang, Now he’s gone I don’t know why, And to this day sometimes I cry, He didn’t even say goodbye, He didn’t take the time to lie

Bang bang, he shot me down, Bang bang, I hit the ground, Bang bang, that awful sound, Bang bang, my baby shot me down

Baby shot me down

= = =Associations=

By Futurists such as the poet F.T. Marinetti By Dadaists such as the poets Hugo Ball and Tristan Tzara By Modernists such as the poet Gertrude Stein By Imigists such as the poets Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams (who is also an Objectivist poet) By Objectivists such as the poets Lorine Niedecker and George Oppen By Black Mountain Poets such as Robert Creeley and Denise Levertov By Language Poets such as Robert Grenier and Rae Armantrout By Postmodernists such as the poet Myung Mi Kim And many others.

=References=

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