Meaning of onomatopoesy | Babel Free

Definitions

The use of onomatopoeia.

countable, uncountable

Examples

“Another means is the imitation of sounds by the organ of speech, constituting onomatopoesy , e.g., the hissing of a stream, the roll of thunder, the tumult of a storm, whistling, etc.”

“It is to be remembered, too, in saying that the child imitates such familiar onomatopoesies as “bow-wow” (French “oua-oua.”), “tic-tic” (French “tic-tac”) from the nurse, that the nursery tradition of employing these sounds is probably the result of a respectful attention to the spontaneous namings of earlier generations of babies.”

“Because of this difference the onomatopoesy of the original has been lost and also some of the alliterative quality of Finnish poetry.”

“Even Hoxha's wife, Nexhmije (whose name is genuine onomatopoesy) , contributes by attacking the parasitic, opportunistic tendencies of Albanian youth.”

“A little child is not content to call a cow, a cow; it is a moo-cow, and a dog is a bow-wow; but if onomatopoesy is a child-like quality, then our language itself is the kingdom of children.”

CEFR level