Home In search of a semiotic model for onomatopoeia
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

In search of a semiotic model for onomatopoeia

  • Lívia Körtvélyessy EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: July 1, 2024
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill

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.


Corresponding author: Lívia Körtvélyessy, P.J.Šafárik University in Košice, Košice, Slovakia, E-mail:

Funding source: Slovak Research and Development Agency (APVV)

Award Identifier / Grant number: APVV-19-0003

  1. 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

Received: 2024-03-13
Accepted: 2024-06-14
Published Online: 2024-07-01
Published in Print: 2024-11-26

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 21.10.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/flin-2024-2036/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button