You may have read in stories words that when read out loud would actually give way to the sound they make. Words like “Ouch!” “Hey!” “Yikes!” “Yum!” which ends with an exclamation point. The reason for the exclamation point is merely to emphasize that they mean something that provokes the five senses. When people read words such as these, they often associate them to an emotion or as mentioned above, any of the five senses. Believe it or not, these words are considered as examples of a figurative language. This figurative language is called an Onomatopoeia. This is just one of the many kinds of figurative language but is the only one whose examples can be read or said out loud that means what it is.
An Onomatopoeia is a type of figurative language. It is also a type of stylistic device that is used to imitate a given sound. The sound that is associated with what it is referred to. In addition to that, it is also considered as describing the sound that it is referred to by imitating it. You may also see parallel sentences. An example of an onomatopoeia would be “knock knock”, “quack quack”, “moo”. You may also see parallel sentences. You may also see parallel sentences.
Here’s a fun fact for you. Did you know that an Onomatopoeia also has its own types? Well they do. There are a lot who may say it’s only two, while others would say three. However, there are four types of Onomatopoeia and the ones below are the following:
What does this even mean? So the first type of Onomatopoeia is words that sound like the normal ones that we often or sometimes hear everyday. Words that sound like anything out of the ordinary. An example for this is the sound “moo.” We know and we believe this is how a cow makes a sound. We know and we believe so we associate this word to the sound of what a cow makes. The first type is the common type of Onomatopoeia.
The second type of Onomatopoeia is considered one of a kind. As this kind uses the name of what makes the sound, but it does not mimic or follow the sound itself. An example for this type of Onomatopoeia would come from Edgar Allan Poe’s poems. The Raven was one poem that used a lot of Onomatopoeia, and the word that brought out sounds of an inanimate object would have been the words “whispered” and “murmured”.
The third type of Onomatopoeia is fabricated words that make it sound true. What does this mean? This means that the words are mostly made up or untrue, and are used in a way that makes them real or true. There are a lot of literary writings that use this type of Onomatopoeia to confuse and to excite the reader into thinking that the words are real, when they are clearly not. An example for this would be “collywobbles” . The word sounds so real, however, this is an example of a fabricated word that authors use to make it sound real. The meaning of the word above is stomach ache.
Last but not the least, this type of Onomatopoeia is the repetitive letters that form a new word. These kinds of words are basically just a repetitive of letters in the word. An example for this is “zzzzzz” This emphasizes that someone is asleep or snoring very loudly. “pfft” This represents the person trying to dissuade the other person or simply someone trying to put the other down by not believing in them. “tsk-tsk”. This Onomatopoeia example shows the disapproval of a person towards the other person.
You may be wondering, how to use onomatopoeia? Simply not just in sentences, or poems, or even stories. Rather how do you even begin to use this figurative language for business? Did you know that even in businesses, you can use Onomatopoeia? If you are wondering how, here are some tips to show you.
The kind of speeches that Onomatopoeias often work would more likely be a Declamation speeches and Oration speeches. These types of speeches use a lot of Onomatopoeias and other types of figurative languages. The best way to set out an example would be to make a declamation speech and let your students present it in class.
Another way to use Onomatopoeia is to use it for plays. Satire plays are very well known examples for figurative languages including Onomatopoeia. This type uses the majority of the figurative languages to express humor, pain and exaggeration in its stories.
Making a tribute speech for a friend, a colleague or even for family members is also a nice way to use examples of onomatopoeia. Tribute speeches have a mixture of figurative languages and it’s also good practice to have to use tribute speeches to make your own onomatopoeia. Having to play with words that do not exactly exist to make it to a new word is not just fun, it’s also a good way to be able to use the figurative language.
A student’s vocabulary is also another way to use onomatopoeia. Letting them be introduced to new words that are suitable for their level and age. The more words that they know and can associate with the figurative language, the easier it is for them to know and understand the figurative language onomatopoeia.
What better way to use onomatopoeia than to let your students learn to heighten senses. As we know that there are some words that could be said and we immediately associate the word to that object, while there are some words that do not. The best way to do this to let them learn through their senses.
An Onomatopoeia is a type of figure of speech that is associated by the words that make the sound. A stylistic device that is made to imitate a sound.
When the words are associated to the sounds, it is considered an onomatopoeia. However, there are cases where like the word whispering and muttering, these words are considered an onomatopoeia because, the action of the these words.
Words like “Hey!” “Yo!” “Ouch!” are considered as examples of Onomatopoeia. Another would be “Bells” The word bells is an onomatopoeia as it is describing the sound rather than the actual word. As we know that the word bell does not make the ringing sound but we associate the sound to that word.
That is the end of the lesson for Onomatopoeia. We have gone through the definition, the purpose, the types and just a few of the examples of the types of Onomatopoeia. For tips on how to introduce this type of figurative language to students, you can always check out the How or Tips on this article.