Abstract
In recent years, numerous publications on onomatopoeia have discussed this class of words either separately or as a part of a broader class of ideophones. Those focused on onomatopoeia usually provide a language-specific description primarily based on phonological, morphological and/or syntactic characteristics. Semiotically oriented papers generally discuss the nature of onomatopoeia against the background of Saussure’s conception of arbitrariness. What is missing is the representation of onomatopoeia in the main semiotic models. Therefore, this paper outlines the fundamental semiotic models and adapts them to capture the class of onomatopoeia. The paper covers Saussure’s dyadic model of linguistic sign, the triadic models of Peirce and Ogden and Richards, and a cognitive onomasiological model proposed by Horecký. The latter’s advantage is that it is a dynamic model with potential for adaptation to various word-formation processes, including onomatopoeia-formation.
Funding source: Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV)
Award Identifier / Grant number: APVV-19-0003
-
Research funding: This work was funded by Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV) (no.: APVV-19-0003).
References
Ahlner, Felix & Jordan Zlatev. 2010. Cross-modal iconicity: A cognitive semiotic approach to sound symbolism. Sign Systems Studies 38(1/4). 298–348. https://doi.org/10.12697/sss.2010.38.1-4.11.Search in Google Scholar
Akita, Kimi. 2009. A grammar of sound symbolic words in Japanese. Thoretical approaches to iconic and lexical properties of mimetics. PhD dissertation. Kobe University.Search in Google Scholar
Akita, Kimi & Mutsumi Imai. 2022. The iconicity ring model for sound symbolism. In Sara Lenninger, Olga Fischer, Christina Ljungberg & Elżbieta Tabakowska (eds.), Iconicity in cognition and across semiotic systems, (Iconicity in Language and Literature 18), 27–45. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.10.1075/ill.18.02akiSearch in Google Scholar
Alpher, Barry. 2001. Ideophones in interaction with intonation and the expression of new information in some indigenous languages of Australia. In F. K. Erhard Voeltz & Christa Kilian-Hatz (eds.), Ideophones, 9–24. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.10.1075/tsl.44.03alpSearch in Google Scholar
Andrason, Alexander. 2020. Ideophones as linguistic “rebels” – The extra-systematicity of ideophones in Xhosa. Part 1. Asian and African Studies 29(2). 119–165.10.31577/aassav.2021.30.1.01Search in Google Scholar
Azari, Razieh & Masoud Sharififar. 2017. Translating onomatopoeia: An attempt toward translation strategies. Review of Applied Linguistics Research (RLAR) 3(3). 72–92.Search in Google Scholar
Bauer, Laurie. 1983. English word-formation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139165846Search in Google Scholar
Bednall, James. 2024. Onomatopoeia in Anindilyakwa. In Lívia Körtvélyessy & Pavol Štekauer (eds.), Onomatopoeia in the World’s Languages, 251–263. Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783111053226-021Search in Google Scholar
Benczes, Réka. 2019. Rhyme over reason. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108649131Search in Google Scholar
Bolinger, Dwight. 1992. Sound symbolism. In William Bright (ed.), International encyclopedia of linguistics IV, 28–30. New York: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Bouissac, Paul. 2010. Saussure: A guide for the perplexed. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.Search in Google Scholar
Bredin, Hugh. 1996. Onomatopoeia as a figure and a linguistic principle. New Literary History 27(3). 555–569. https://doi.org/10.1353/nlh.1996.0031.Search in Google Scholar
Brown, Connor. 2024. Onomatopoeia in Kriol. In Lívia Körtvélyessy & Pavol Štekauer (eds.), Onomatopoeia in the World’s Languages, 277–288. Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783111053226-023Search in Google Scholar
Carling, Gerd & Niklas Erben Johansson. 2015. Motivated language change: Processes involved in the growth and conventionalization of onomatopoeia and sound symbolism. Acta Linguistica Hafniensia 46(2). 199–217. https://doi.org/10.1080/03740463.2014.990293.Search in Google Scholar
Childs, Tucker G. 1988. The phonology of Kisi ideophones. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 10. 165–190. https://doi.org/10.1515/jall.1988.10.2.165.Search in Google Scholar
Clark, Herbert H. 1996. Using Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Creissels, Denis. 2001. Setswana ideophones as uninflected predicative lexemes. Typological Studies in Language 44. 75–86.10.1075/tsl.44.07creSearch in Google Scholar
Cuenca, Maria Josep. 2000. Defining the indefinable? Interjections. Syntaxis 3. 29–44.Search in Google Scholar
Dash, Niladri Sekhar. 2024. Onomatopoeia in Bengali. In Lívia Körtvélyessy & Pavol Štekauer (eds.), Onomatopoeia in the World’s Languages, 389–402. Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783111053226-033Search in Google Scholar
De Cuypere, Ludovic. 2008. Limiting the iconic: From the metatheoretical foundations to the creative possibilities of iconicity in language. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.10.1075/ill.6Search in Google Scholar
Diffloth, Gérard. 1976. Expressives in Semai. In Philip N. Lenner, Laurence C. Thompson & Stanley Starosta (eds.), Austroasiatic studies part I (Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications 13), 249–264. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.Search in Google Scholar
Dingemanse, Mark. 2011. Ezra Pound among the Mawu: Ideophones and iconicity in Siwu. In Pascal Michelucci, Olga Fischer & Christina Ljungberg (eds.), Semblance and signification, 39–54. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing.10.1075/ill.10.03dinSearch in Google Scholar
Dingemanse, Mark. 2012. Advances in the cross‐linguistic study of ideophones. Language and Linguistics Compass 6(10). 654–672. https://doi.org/10.1002/lnc3.361.Search in Google Scholar
Dingemanse, Mark. 2023. Ideophones. In Ewa van Lier (ed.), The Oxford handbook of word classes, 466–476. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198852889.013.15Search in Google Scholar
Dingemanse, Mark, Damián E. Blasi, Gary Lupyan, Morten H. Christiansen & Padraic Monaghan. 2015. Arbitrariness, iconicity, and systematicity in language. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 19(10). 603–615. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2015.07.013.Search in Google Scholar
Dressler, Wolfgang U. 2005. Word-formation in natural morphology. In Pavol Štekauer & Rochelle Lieber (eds.), Handbook of word-formation, 267–284. New York: Springer.10.1007/1-4020-3596-9_11Search in Google Scholar
Dvonč, Ladislav, Gejza Horák, František Miko, Jozef Mistrík, Ján Oravec, Jozef Ružička & Milan Urbančok. 1966. Morfológia slovenského jazyka. [Morphology of the Slovak language]. Bratislava: Vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied.Search in Google Scholar
Eckler, Ross A. 1991. Onomatopoeia: Things that go bump. Word ways. The Journal of Recreational Linguistics 24(2). 97–103.Search in Google Scholar
Edwards, Owen. 2024. Onomatopoeia in Kotos Amarasi. In Lívia Körtvélyessy & Pavol Štekauer (eds.), Onomatopoeia in the World’s Languages, 795–803. Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783111053226-066Search in Google Scholar
Egenti, Martha Chidimma. 2024. Onomatopoeia in Igbo. In Lívia Körtvélyessy & Pavol Štekauer (eds.), Onomatopoeia in the World’s Languages, 139–150. Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter..10.1515/9783111053226-012Search in Google Scholar
Flaksman, Maria. 2015. Old and modern English Onomatopoeia: Two different systems? Материалы IV. Межвузовской научно-практической конференции “Актуальные проблемы современной лингвистики” 20-21 апреля 2015г 4. 97–98.Search in Google Scholar
Flaksman, Maria. 2017. Iconic treadmill hypothesis: The reasons behind continuous onomatopoeic coinage. In Matthias Bauer, Angelika Zirker, Olga Fischer & Christine Ljungberg (eds.), Dimensions of iconicity [Iconicity in Language and Literature 15], 15–38. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.10.1075/ill.15.02flaSearch in Google Scholar
Flaksman, Maria. 2018. Onomatopoeia and regular sound changes. Journal of Siberian 81–112(2). 1–10.Search in Google Scholar
Flaksman, Maria. 2019. Classification of sound-imitative words in Icelandic language. Information – Communication – Society. 378–382.Search in Google Scholar
Friedrich, Paul. 1975. The lexical symbol and its relative non-arbitrariness. In Dale M. Kinkade, Kenneth L. Hale & Otmar Werner (eds.), Linguistics and anthropology: In honor of Carl Vogelin, 199–248. Lisse: Peter de Ridder Press.Search in Google Scholar
Givón, Thomas. 2016. Beyond structuralism: Exorcizing Saussure’s ghost. Studies in Language 40(3). 681–704. https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.40.3.08giv.Search in Google Scholar
Guynes, Sean A. 2014. Four-color sound: A Peircean semiotics of comic book onomatopoeia. Public Journal of Semiotics 6(1). 58–72. https://doi.org/10.37693/pjos.2014.6.11916.Search in Google Scholar
Hargus, Sharon. 2024. Onomatopoeia in Kwadacha Tsek’ene. In Lívia Körtvélyessy & Pavol Štekauer (eds.), Onomatopoeia in the World’s Languages, 695–708. Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783111053226-058Search in Google Scholar
Hjelmslev, Louis. 1961. Prolegomena to a Theory of language. University of Wisconsin Press.Search in Google Scholar
Horecký, Ján. 1983. Vývin a teória jazyka [The evolution and theory of language]. Bratislava: SPN.Search in Google Scholar
Ibarretxe-Antuñano, Iraide. 2017. Basque ideophones from a typological perspective. Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue Canadienne de Linguistique 62(2). 196–220. https://doi.org/10.1017/cnj.2017.8.Search in Google Scholar
Jakobson, Roman. 1971. Selected writings II. Word and language, 345–359. Paris: Mouton.10.1515/9783110873269Search in Google Scholar
Johansson, Niklas Erben, Andrey Anikin, Gerd Carling & Holmer Arthur. 2020. The typology of sound symbolism: Defining macro-concepts via their semantic and phonetic features. Linguistic Typology 24(2). 253–310. https://doi.org/10.1515/lingty-2020-2034.Search in Google Scholar
Kadooka, Kenichi. 2005. On the degree of lexicalization in English Onomatopoeia from a historical perspective. The Ryukoku Journal of Humanities and Sciences 27(1). 1–13.Search in Google Scholar
Kießling, Roland. 2024. Onomatopoeia in Alagwa. In Lívia Körtvélyessy & Pavol Štekauer (eds.), Onomatopoeia in the World’s Languages, 29–39. Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783111053226-003Search in Google Scholar
Körtvélyessy, Lívia. 2020. Onomatopoeia – a unique species? Studia Linguistica 74(2). 506–551. https://doi.org/10.1111/stul.12133.Search in Google Scholar
Körtvélyessy, Lívia. to appear. The colourful world of onomatopoeia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Körtvélyessy, Lívia & Pavol Kačmár. ms. Is there a place for creativity in onomatopoeia-formation?Search in Google Scholar
Körtvélyessy, Lívia & Pavol Štekauer (eds.). 2024. Onomatopoeia in the world’s languages. Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783111053226Search in Google Scholar
Körtvélyessy, Lívia, Pavol Štekauer & Pavol Kačmár. 2022. Creativity in word-formation and word-interpretation. Creative potential and creative performance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781009053556Search in Google Scholar
Kwon, Nahyun & Erich R. Round. 2015. Phonaesthemes in morphological theory. Morphology 25(1). 1–27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11525-014-9250-z.Search in Google Scholar
Leavitt, Robert M. 2024. Onomatopoeia in Passamaquoddy Maliseet. In Lívia Körtvélyessy & Pavol Štekauer (eds.), Onomatopoeia in the World’s Languages, 685–694. Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783111053226-057Search in Google Scholar
Laing, Catherine E. 2015. What does the cow say? An exploratory analysis of onomatopoeia in early phonological development. PhD dissertation. University of York.Search in Google Scholar
Laing, Catherine E. 2019. A role for onomatopoeia in early language: Evidence from phonological development. Language and Cognition 11(2). 173–187. https://doi.org/10.1017/langcog.2018.23.Search in Google Scholar
Lovick, Olga. 2024. Onomatopoeia in Upper Tanana Dene. In Lívia Körtvélyessy & Pavol Štekauer (eds.), Onomatopoeia in the World’s Languages, 709–721. Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783111053226-059Search in Google Scholar
Lyons, John. 1977. Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
McMahon, April. 1994. Understanding Language change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139166591Search in Google Scholar
Meir, Irit & Oksana Tkachman. 2018. Iconicity. Oxford Research Encyclopedias of Linguistics.10.1093/acrefore/9780199384655.013.343Search in Google Scholar
Merlini Barbaresi, Lavinia. 2000. Iconicity in language and text. A paper presented at the ESSE conference, Helsinki 2000.Search in Google Scholar
Miller, Gary D. 2014. English lexicogenesis. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199689880.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Mithun, Marianne. 1982. The synchronic and diachronic behavior of plops, squeaks, croaks, and moans. International Journal of American Linguistics 48. 49–58. https://doi.org/10.1086/465712.Search in Google Scholar
Nöth, Winfried. 1990. The handbook of semiotics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.10.2307/j.ctv14npk46Search in Google Scholar
Nuckolls, Janis B. 1996. Sound like life. New York & Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780195089851.001.0001Search in Google Scholar
Nuckolls, Janis B. 2001. Ideophones in Pastaza Quechua. In F. K. Erhard Voeltz & Christa Kilian-Hatz (eds.), Ideophones, 271–286. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.10.1075/tsl.44.22nucSearch in Google Scholar
Ogden, Charles Kay & Ivor Armstrong Richards. 1923. The meaning of meaning. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc.Search in Google Scholar
Ondruš, Šimon & Ján Sabol. 1987. Úvod do štúdia jazykov [Introduction to the study of languages]. Bratislava: SPN.Search in Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S. 1994. Collected Papers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Peirce, Charles S. 1998. The Essential Peirce. Volume 2. What is a Sign. EP 2:4–10. Peirce edition project. Bloomington IN: Indiana University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Pharies, David A. 1985. Charles S. Peirce and the linguistic sign. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins.10.1075/fos.9Search in Google Scholar
Pingali, Sailaja. 2024. Onomatopoeia in Telugu. In Lívia Körtvélyessy & Pavol Štekauer (eds.), Onomatopoeia in the World’s Languages, 345–356. Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783111053226-029Search in Google Scholar
Plato. 1952. Plato in Twelve Volumes. Volume 12. Translated by North Harold Fowler. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Qinghua, Ma. 2018. The Significance of Onomatopoeia in Languagization: From the perspective of sound-meaning relationship under dynamic system principle. Macrolinguistics 6(8). 43–62. https://doi.org/10.26478/ja2018.6.8.3.Search in Google Scholar
Samarin, William J. 1971. Survey of Bantu ideophones. African Language Studies 12. 130–168.Search in Google Scholar
Saussure, Ferdinand de. 1959. Course in general linguistics. New York: Philosophical Library.Search in Google Scholar
Saussure, Ferdinand de. 1968. Course de linguistique Générale. Critical edition by R. Engler, vol. 1. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.Search in Google Scholar
Sicoli, Mark. 2014. Ideophones, rhemes, interpretants. Pragmatics and Society 5(3). 445–454. https://doi.org/10.1075/ps.5.3.08sic.Search in Google Scholar
Sobkowiak, Włodzimierz. 1996. On the phonostatistics of English Onomatopoeia. Studia Anglica Poznaniensia 23. 15–30.Search in Google Scholar
Sonesson, Göran. 1996. The ecological foundations of iconicity. Approaches to Semiotics 126. 739–742.Search in Google Scholar
Swiatkowska, Marcela. 2006. L’interjection: entre deixis et anaphore. Langages 161. 47–56. https://doi.org/10.3917/lang.161.0047.Search in Google Scholar
Tamori, Ikuhiro & Lawrence Schourup. 1999. Onomatope: Keitai-to imi [Onomatopoeia: From Form to Meaning]. Tokyo: Kurosio.Search in Google Scholar
Taylor, John. 2002. Cognitive grammar. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Van Hoey, Thomas. 2019. Defining Chinese ideophones: A family of constructions. International Workshop on Mimetics (Ideophones, Expressives) III: Crucibles of Mimetics. Nanzan University.Search in Google Scholar
Vassileva, Albena. 2007. Sur le traitement de la forme du signifié interjectionnel. Langages 165(1). 115–122. https://doi.org/10.3917/lang.165.0115.Search in Google Scholar
Waugh, Linda R. 1994. Degrees of iconicity in the lexicon. Journal of Pragmatics 22. 55–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-2166(94)90056-6.Search in Google Scholar
Westerlund, Torbjörn. 2024. Onomatopoeia in Ngarla. In Lívia Körtvélyessy & Pavol Štekauer (eds.), Onomatopoeia in the World’s Languages, 297–308. Berlin & Boston: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783111053226-025Search in Google Scholar
Willems, Klaas & Cristinel Munteanu (eds.). 2021. Eugenio Coseriu: Past, present and future. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110712391Search in Google Scholar
Zając, Patryk. 2024. Onomatopoeia in Hausa. In Lívia Körtvélyessy & Pavol Štekauer (eds.), Onomatopoeia in the World’s Languages, 53–66. Berlin & Boston: De Gruyter Mouton.10.1515/9783111053226-005Search in Google Scholar
© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Distinguishing Hawai‘i Creole neva and néva: prosodic evidence from podcast interviews
- What is a Chinese word? Lexical constructionalization in Chinese
- Encoding indefinite human reference without indefinite pronouns: the case of Chinese presentationals
- Constituents, arrays, and trees: two (more) models of grammatical description
- Toponymic unity of the Carpathian region
- Gender agreement in Italian compounds with capo-
- In search of a semiotic model for onomatopoeia
- Book Reviews
- Dirk Geeraerts, Dirk Speelman, Kris Heylen, Mariana Montes, Stefano De Pascale, Karlien Franco & Michael Lang: Lexical Variation and Change: A Distributional Semantic Approach
- Bernd Heine: The Grammar of Interactives
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Distinguishing Hawai‘i Creole neva and néva: prosodic evidence from podcast interviews
- What is a Chinese word? Lexical constructionalization in Chinese
- Encoding indefinite human reference without indefinite pronouns: the case of Chinese presentationals
- Constituents, arrays, and trees: two (more) models of grammatical description
- Toponymic unity of the Carpathian region
- Gender agreement in Italian compounds with capo-
- In search of a semiotic model for onomatopoeia
- Book Reviews
- Dirk Geeraerts, Dirk Speelman, Kris Heylen, Mariana Montes, Stefano De Pascale, Karlien Franco & Michael Lang: Lexical Variation and Change: A Distributional Semantic Approach
- Bernd Heine: The Grammar of Interactives