There are 3 messages in this issue.
Topics in this digest:
1a. Re: Onomatopoeia - do you make use of it?
From: Matthew George
1b. Re: Onomatopoeia - do you make use of it?
From: Alex Fink
1c. Re: Onomatopoeia - do you make use of it?
From: C. Brickner
Messages
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1a. Re: Onomatopoeia - do you make use of it?
Posted by: "Matthew George" matt....@gmail.com
Date: Sat Sep 21, 2013 12:56 pm ((PDT))
Thank you for those colorful examples - I can really perceive how they
convey the nature of their referents, assuming I'm interpreting the
phonology correctly. Syllable-ending ñ is a bit of a challenge for me.
Do you have any analysis of how and why a sequence of phones evokes sounds
or actions? 'krak' seems like a good example of cracking or breaking, but
if you voice the last consonant the association vanishes. Turning p to b
doesn't disrupt 'pruprup' to my ear, but changing 'pop' to 'bob' (forex)
does. I have no systematic way to understand my reactions, and am curious
as to others' degree of rational insight.
Matt G.
Messages in this topic (8)
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1b. Re: Onomatopoeia - do you make use of it?
Posted by: "Alex Fink" 000...@gmail.com
Date: Sat Sep 21, 2013 2:21 pm ((PDT))
On Sat, 21 Sep 2013 15:56:05 -0400, Matthew George <matt....@gmail.com> wrote:
>Thank you for those colorful examples - I can really perceive how they
>convey the nature of their referents, assuming I'm interpreting the
>phonology correctly. Syllable-ending ñ is a bit of a challenge for me.
Well, you're in luck: Kash has an allophonic rule that final -ñ is [N].
>Do you have any analysis of how and why a sequence of phones evokes sounds
>or actions? 'krak' seems like a good example of cracking or breaking, but
>if you voice the last consonant the association vanishes. Turning p to b
>doesn't disrupt 'pruprup' to my ear, but changing 'pop' to 'bob' (forex)
>does. I have no systematic way to understand my reactions, and am curious
>as to others' degree of rational insight.
This isn't general enough to deserve the title of "system" either, but
something comes to mind for these cases you bring up. In English, at least,
final voiceless stops are articulated with glottalisation and with (etically)
shorter vowels, both of which increase the abruptness of the cessation of
sonority, whereas final voiceless stops are unglotallised and have (etically)
longer vowels. Cacking and popping are both abrupt, punctual events, so their
representations [krak] and [pop] benefit from this voiceless-stop abruptness.
By contrast, stomach gas is an iterative series of burblings, certainly not
abrupt as a whole (nor even as abrupt in its parts), so its representation
[pruprup]~[brubrub] doesn't lose meetness without this effect.
Alex
Messages in this topic (8)
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1c. Re: Onomatopoeia - do you make use of it?
Posted by: "C. Brickner" tepeyach...@embarqmail.com
Date: Sun Sep 22, 2013 1:42 am ((PDT))
I didnât realize that Senjecas had so many until the question was asked.
báába: bleat
bálba: babble
báɱa: bay (<ɱ> = /m_0/)
booúla: bubble
búþa: throb, beat
ðérɱa: rumble, roar
fÃÃɱa: spit
gála: yell
gáɱa: squawk, caw
gúra: grunt
ĸááĸa: choke
ĸáĸa: cackle, cluck
ĸeĸaĸú: cock-a-doodle-doo
ĸʷása: cough
ĸʷáĸa: quack
ĸúĸa: cuckoo
lááa: barĸ
múúga: low, moo
múra: murmur
núra: growl
pálba: chatter, jabber
píípa: chirp, peep
qrúsa: gnash (<q> = /j\/)
qúma: howl
rééĸa: neigh, chortle
rééta: roar
síma: whisper
súsa: bluster, sough
sʷéra: buzz, hum
sʲúna: whine
télĸa: rap, toll
tómpa: boom
túta: coo
úla: hoot
vrésa: crackle, rustle
xáta: pop, puff (<x> = /C/)
xúra: snore
zíga: sigh
zúba: grit the teeth
Charlie
----- Original Message -----
It was a little surprising to me to realize how common onomatopoeia is in
English, and it seems in many other natural languages, although the
relationship between word and sound isn't always obvious to non-native
speakers. (I found a list of representations of animal sounds in various
languages to be quite bemusing.)
Do you make an effort to include onomatopoeia in your conlangs? If it's a
language for an alien species with different perceptions, do you try to
create accordingly?
Matt G.
Messages in this topic (8)
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