Onomatopoeia is language used efficiently.
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/onomatopoeia?q=onomatopoeia
Here’s a list of onomatopoeia in English:
http://www.englishbanana.com/big-activity-book/bab_page33.html
Do you like any in particular? I really like fizz, zip, and mmm (we use this last one in Spanish too…)
To give an example, I choose wow!, used for showing that you find something impressive or surprising. The equivalent in Spanish would be ¡guau!.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that in English many verbs are used as onomatopoeias: tap tap, clap, crash, pop, honk, knock knock (toc toc in Spanish).
It's funny how different some of them sound in Spanish and in English:
* quiquiriqui ... cock-a-doodle-doo
* ¡achís! ....... atishoo!(GB) and ahchoo! (USA)
* ¡ñam, ñam! .... yum, yum!
Oh, your post is really good. I like very much.
ReplyDeleteI like splash and woosh, and obiously mmm.
Now, a joke in spanish about onomatopoeia:
En clase de Jaimito la profesora les pregunta los alumnos una frase que contenga una onomatopeya. A ver:
- Pablo: El gato de mi vecina hace miau; Muy bien Pablo
- Andrés: Los grillos en las noches de verano no paran de hacer cric-cric; Muy bien Andrés
- Ahora tú Jaimito (que estaba despistado, y la profesora le recuerda que debe decir una frase con una onomatopeya): Iba por la calle con mi bicicleta y de repente vi un autobús que venía hacia mi y dije: "Oh, no ma to peia!!!"