What is Onomatopoeia

Tap to Read ➤ Sheetal Mandora

What is onomatopoeia? It's all around us and we use it more often than we realize. Want to learn more about onomatopoeia? Then keep reading...

What is onomatopoeia? We can understand the answer to this question from various angles, but the explanation that I'm familiar with is - when a word, any word is created to help describe an item, name, action, or thing, it takes on the name from the sound it makes.

But let me remind you that onomatopoeia is not similar to cacophony (a loud, blaring noise) or euphony (a harmonious and pleasing sound, i.e. music). Onomatopoeia takes on the challenge of making sense of various sounds which we hear around us. Now that we know what onomatopoeia is, why don't we see a few examples of the same.

Examples of Onomatopoeia

To help the kids learn the meaning and usage of onomatopoeia, we have provided a table with different words. Go through the list with them and see if they can identify when and how these sounds are made.

Achoo Ahem Baa Bah Bam Bang Bark Bash Bawl Beep Belch Blare Blurt

Boing Boink Bong Bonk Boo Boom Bubble Bump Buzz Chatter Cheep Chirp

Clang Clank Clap Clatter Click Clink Cluck Clunk Crackle Crunch Cuckoo Ding Drip

Eek Fizz Flick Flutter Giggle Growl Gurgle Hack Hiccup Hiss Honk Huh Hum Itch

Jangle Knock La Meow Moo Mumble Murmur Neigh Oink Ouch Ow Phew Ping Plop Plunk Poof Pop Purr Quack

Rattle Roar Rumble Rustle Screech Shuffle Shush Sizzle Slap Slash Slurp Smack Sniff Snip Snort Splash Squelch Squish Swoosh

Thud Thump Ticktock Tinkle Tsk Twang Tweet Ugh Vroom Whack Wham Whip

Whisper Whizz Whoop Whoosh Woof Yikes Zap Zing Zip Zoom

Examples of Onomatopoeia in Literature

I hope that after going through the table above, you have understood which words make up for onomatopoeia. Apart from using these words in our daily lives, onomatopoeia words are used in literary work as well.

There are various nursery rhymes, poems by famous poets, and literary works that stand as renowned examples of onomatopoeia in literature. And here are few of them.

...And who tolling , tolling , tolling , In that muffled monotone, Feel a glory in so rolling On the human heart a stone... ~ Edgar Allan Poe, The Bells

...The moan of doves in immemorial elms, And murmuring of innumerable bees. ~ Alfred Lord Tennyson, Murmuring of Innumerable Bees

The rusty spigot sputters , utters a splutter , spatters a smattering of drops, gashes wider; slash splatters scatters spurts finally stops sputtering and splash ! gushes rushes splashes clear water dashes . ~ Eve Merriam

Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full! One for the master, one for the dame, And one for the little boy who lives down the lane. ~ Nursery Rhyme

...My days have crackled and gone up in smoke, Have puffed and burst as sun-starts on a stream... ~ Francis Thompson, The Hound of Heaven

It shushes It hushes The loudness in the road. It flitter-twitters , And laughs away from me. It laughs a lovely whiteness, And whitely whirs away, To be Some otherwhere, Still white as milk or shirts, So beautiful it hurts. ~ Gwendolyn Brooks, Cynthia in the Snow

...Over the cobbles he clattered and clashed in the dark inn-yard, And he tapped with his whip on the shutters, but all was locked and barred... ~ Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman

...And ere three shrill notes the pipe uttered, You heard as if an army muttered ; And the muttering grew to a grumbling ; And the grumbling grew to a mighty rumbling ; And out of the houses the rats came tumbling. ~ Robert Browning, The Pied Piper of Hamelin

The world of English language is filled with wondrous surprises. And with onomatopoeia, we got to know a little more about it. Anytime, in the future, you'd like to explain yourself or a situation, perhaps these words can be some help to make it more clear.