SOUND SYMBOLISMS JOHN MIGUEL F. MORALES

BSE-ENGLISH 2-1

SOUND SYMBOLISMS

• The study in linguistics of words that attempt to convey meaning

through mimicry is called sound symbolism. Also known as iconism or

phonosemantics, these types of words are scattered across many

languages and cultures, often carrying many of the same

characteristics. They are generally formed in a handful of distinct

ways: through connection to primitive sounds like grunts and coughs,

as clusters of letters that appear when certain kinds of words are

used, and through onomatopoeia — a sound imitation widely used by

illustrators.

MARGARET MAGNUS

• Is the author of a comprehensive book

designed to explain phonosemantics to the

lay reader: Gods of the Word. This work

describes three types of sound symbol

TYPES OF SOUND SYMBOLISM

• Onomatopoeia

• This is the least significant type of symbolism. It is simply imitative of

sounds or suggests something that makes a sound. Some examples

are crash, bang, whoosh.

• is a word that phonetically imitates or suggests the source of

the sound that it describes.

TYPES OF SOUND SYMBOLISM

• Clustering

• Words that share a sound sometimes have something in common. If

we take, for example, words that have no prefix or suffix and group

them according to meaning, some of them will fall into a number of

categories. So we find that there is a group of words beginning with /b/

that are about barriers, bulges and bursting, and some other group of

/b/ words that are about being banged, beaten, battered, bruised,

blistered and bashed.

TYPES OF SOUND SYMBOLISM

• Iconism

• Iconism, according to Magnus, becomes apparent when comparing

words which have the same sort of referent. One way is to look at a

group of words that all refer to the same thing and that differ only in

their sound, such as 'stamp', 'stomp', 'tamp', 'tromp', 'tramp', and

'step'. An /m/ before the /p/ in some words makes the action more

forceful; compare 'stamp' with 'step' or 'tamp' with 'tap'. According to

Magnus, the /r/ sets the word in motion, especially after a /t/ so a

'tamp' is in one place, but a 'tramp' goes for a walk. The /p/ in all those

words would be what emphasizes the individual steps.

TYPES OF SOUND SYMBOLISM

• Phenomimes and psychomimes

• Some languages possess a category of words midway between

onomatopoeia and usual words. Whereas onomatopoeia refers

to the use of words to imitate actual sounds, there are languages

known for having a special class of words that "imitate"

soundless states or events, called phenomimes (when they

describe external phenomena) and psychomimes(when they

describe psychological states).