Thread: Onomatopoeia

If you're wondering what in the world that title means, you're not alone. I myself had to do a little research to find the English word for what I meant.
So, "onomatopoeia", is basically a word that denotes a sound. Things like: splash, roar, ouch, oink, etc.
When I'd just started learning English in my early teens, I took special delight at discovering the fact that an English dog says "bow wow!" when he barks (an Iranian dog says "vagh vagh!", and sometimes "hap hap!").
Apart from animal sounds, human sounds are also interesting. An English-speaking person says "ouch!" when he unexpectedly hurts himself, an Iranian says "akh!" in the same situation, while this same "akh!" ("ах!") is approximately like the sound when a Russian sighs. [Аааах, красавица, душа-девица, полюби же ты меня!]
Other examples, anyone?! It's not exactly language learning, but it's kinda fun!

Here's one thing I don't understand:

The Russian spelling for "Aha!" is "Ага!". How come? "Аха!" would be much closer to the actual sound...

I guess most Russians can say "h", even though the consonant doesn't exist in their language.

Originally Posted by Misha Tal

Here's one thing I don't understand:

The Russian spelling for "Aha!" is "Ага!". How come? "Аха!" would be much closer to the actual sound...

I guess most Russians can say "h", even though the consonant doesn't exist in their language.

I think most Russians pronounce "voiced х" sound here. In standard Russian letter "г" mostly denotes "voiced к" sound but in South Russian pronunciation as well as in Ukrainian accent (rather common) this letter is pronounced as "voiced х" sound. Moreover, even in standard Russian letter "г" in some words (like interjections "Ага"=Aha, "угу"=uh-huh, "Ого"=wow) in fact is pronounced as "voiced х".

So "voiced х" sound is usually associated with letter г, not х.

The word onomatopoeia doesnt just mean a word that denotes a sound. It is a literary term and means a word chosen by a poet to create an image. It is often used with 'alliteration' where the poet chooses words that all start with the same letter. ' the babbling brook bubbled below' instead of 'the sound of the stream could be heard below'