ideophone

The word ideophone was coined in 1935 by Clement Martyn Doke, who defined it in his Bantu Linguistic Terminology as follows.Doke 1935 as cited in Voeltz & Kilian-Hatz 2001

{{quote|A vivid representation of an idea in sound. A word, often onomatopoeic, which describes a predicate, qualificative or adverb in respect to manner, color, sound, smell, action, state or intensity.}}

Ideophones evoke sensory events. A well known instance of ideophones are onomatopoeic words—words that imitate the sound (of the event) they refer to. Some ideophones may be derived from onomatopoeic notions. In many languages, however, ideophones do not solely represent sound. For instance, in Gbaya, kpuk 'a rap on the door' may be onomatopoeic, but other ideophones depict motion and visual scenes: loɓoto-loɓoto 'large animals plodding through mud', kiláŋ-kiláŋ 'in a zigzagging motion', pɛɗɛŋ-pɛɗɛŋ 'razor sharp'.

Ideophones are often characterized as iconic or sound-symbolic words, meaning that there can be a resemblance between their form and their meaning. For instance, in West-African languages, voiced consonants and low tone in ideophones are often connected to largeness and heaviness, whereas voiceless consonants and high tones tend to relate to smallness and lightness.Westermann 1927 Reduplication figures quite prominently in ideophones, often conveying a sense of repetition or plurality present in the evoked event.Watson in Voeltz & Kilian-Hatz 2001 The iconicity of ideophones is shown by the fact that people can guess the meanings of ideophones from various languages at a level above chance.Iwasaki et al. 2007, Dingemanse et al. 2015 However, the form of ideophones does not completely relate to their meaning; as conventionalized words, they contain arbitrary, language-specific phonemes just like other parts of the vocabulary.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

The grammatical function of ideophones varies by language. In some languages (e.g. Welayta, Yir-Yiront, Semai, Korean), they form a separate word class, while in others, they occur across a number of different word classes (e.g. Mundang, Ewe, Sotho, Hausa).Voeltz & Kilian-Hatz 2001

Despite this diversity, ideophones show a number of robust regularities across languages. One is that they are often marked in the same way as quoted speech and demonstrations.{{Cite journal|last=Samarin|first=William J.|year=1971|title=Survey of Bantu ideophones|journal=African Language Studies|volume=12|pages=130–168}} Sometimes ideophones can form a complete utterance on their own, as in English "ta-da!" or Japanese {{Nihongo||ジャーン|jaan|ta-da}}.Diffloth 1972 However, in such cases the word ideophone is used as a synonym to interjection. Proper ideophones may occur within utterances, depicting a scene described by other elements of the utterance, as in Japanese Taro wa sutasuta to haya-aruki o shita "Taro walked hurriedly' (literally 'Taro did haste-walk sutasuta').{{Cite journal|last=Kita|first=Sotaro|year=1997|title=Two-dimensional semantic analysis of Japanese mimetics|url=http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/106489/9/WRAP-two-dimensional-semantic-analysis-Japanese-mimetics-Kita-2018.pdf|journal=Linguistics|volume=35|issue=2|pages=379–415|doi=10.1515/ling.1997.35.2.379|s2cid=144380452 }} Ideophones are more like illustrations of events than responses to events. An ideophone like Gbaya kiláŋ-kiláŋ 'in a zigzagging motion' displays a certain resemblance to the event (for instance, its irregular vowels and tones depicting the irregularity of the motion).{{cn|date=January 2025}}

Languages may differ in the context in which ideophones are used. In some languages, ideophones are primarily used in spoken language (e.g. narrative contexts) and are rarely encountered in written language.Noss in Voeltz & Kilian-Hatz 2001 In other languages (e.g. Ewe, Japanese), ideophones can be freely used in all registers. In general, however, ideophones tend to occur more extensively in spoken language because of their expressive or dramaturgic function.Kunene in Voeltz & Kilian-Hatz 2001

{{No citations section|date=April 2025}}

{{main|Japanese sound symbolism}}

The Japanese language has thousands of ideophones, often called mimetics. The constructions are quite metrical 2-2, or 3-3, where morae play a role in the symmetry. The first consonant of the second word of the reduplication may become voiced if phonological conditions allow. Japanese ideophones are used extensively in daily conversations as well as in the written language.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

• doki doki ({{lang|ja|ドキドキ}}) – heart-pounding
• kira kira ({{lang|ja|キラキラ}}) – glittery
• shiin ({{lang|ja|シーン}}) – silence
• niko niko ({{lang|ja|ニコニコ}}) – smile
• jii ({{lang|ja|じー}}) – stare
• run run ({{lang|ja|ルンルン}}) – cheerful

The Tamil language uses many ideophones, both in spoken (colloquial) and in formal usage. Ideophones are called irattaik kilavi (இரட்டைக் கிளவி) in Tamil grammar.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

• sora sora ({{lang|ta|சொறசொற}}) – rough (the sound produced when rubbing back and forth on a rough surface)
• vazha-vazha ({{lang|ta|வழவழ}}) – smooth, slippery
• mozhu-mozhu ({{lang|ta|மொழுமொழு}}) – smooth (surface)
• kozhu-kozhu ({{lang|ta|கொழுகொழு}}) – plump
• kozha-kozha ({{lang|ta|கொழகொழ}}) – slimy, gooey
• busu-busu ({{lang|ta|புசுபுசு}}) – soft and bushy
• kaNa-kaNa ({{lang|ta|கணகண}}) - warm, hot
• giDu-giDu ({{lang|ta|கிடுகிடு}}) – quickly, fast
• Tak-Tak ({{lang|ta|டக்டக்}}) - quickly, rapidly
• maDa-maDa ({{lang|ta|மடமட}}) – quickly, fast
• masa-masa ({{lang|ta|மசமச}}) – sluggish, lethargic
• viru-viru ({{lang|ta|விறுவிறு}}) – energetically (also, spicy)
• choda-choda ({{lang|ta|சொதசொத}}) – marshy, waterlogged
• paLa-paLa ({{lang|ta|பளப்பள/பளபள}}) – glittering, shiny
• veDa-veDa ({{lang|ta|வெடவெட}}) – shaking, trembling
• chuDa-chuDa ({{lang|ta|சுடச்சுட}}) – piping hot
• mAngu-mAngu ({{lang|ta|மாங்குமாங்கு}}) – laboriously
• gara-gara ({{lang|ta|கரகர}}) – crunchy (as in food), gravely (as in voice)
• gaba-gaba ({{lang|ta|கபகப}}) - wolfing down food
• doLa-doLa ({{lang|ta|தொளதொள}}) - hanging loose (as in loose fitting)
• taLa-taLa ({{lang|ta|தளதள}}) - lush (as in a lush plant/orchard)
• toNa-toNa ({{lang|ta|தொணதொண}}) - annoyingly incessant

In Xhosa, as in closely related Zulu, ideophones can convey very complex experiential impressions or can just strengthen meanings of other words. The ideophone is often introduced using the verb {{lang|xh|thi}} {{gloss|say}}.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

Using {{lang|xh|thi}}:

• {{lang|xh|cwaka}} – to be silent

:: {{lang|xh|Lixesha lokuthi cwaka}}. 'It is time to be silent.' [literally: 'It is time to say {{lang|xh|cwaka}}.']

• {{lang|xh|gqi}} – to suddenly appear

:: {{lang|xh|Bathi gqi abelungu eAfrika}}. 'The white people suddenly arrived in Africa.' [Literally: 'The white people said {{lang|xh|gqi}} in Africa.'])

Without using {{lang|xh|thi}}:

• {{lang|xh|ncam}} – exact

{{interlinear|indent=3|lang=xh|Andazi ncam.|{I do not know} IDEO|'I do not know exactly.'}}

• bhuxe – to stand motionless

{{interlinear|indent=3|lang=xh|Ndime bhuxe phambi kwakhe.|{I stood} IDEO before him.|'I stood motionless before him.'}}

• Ideasthesia
• Sound symbolism (phonosemantics)
• Synesthesia
• Reduplication
• Onomatopoeia
• Japanese sound symbolism
• Bouba/kiki effect

{{Reflist}}

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• {{cite journal |last=Ido |first=Shinji |date= 2011 |title= Vowel alternation in disyllabic reduplicatives: An areal dimension|url=http://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/jeful/article/view/jeful.2011.2.1.12/10282 |journal= Eesti ja Soome-Ugri Keeleteaduse Ajakiri |volume=2 |issue= 1 |pages=185–193}}
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Category:Phonaesthetics

Category:Semantics

Category:Parts of speech