{{for|the type of musical instrument|Idiophone}} {{Use American English|date = February 2019}} {{Short description|Words evoking ideas of specific sounds or other sensations}} thumb|A sculpture demonstrating an example of Japanese sound symbolism, "''jaan!''" ({{lang|ja|ジャーン}}) An '''ideophone''' (also known as a '''mimetic''' or '''expressive''') is a member of the class of words that depict sensory imagery or sensations,<ref name=dingemanse23>{{cite book |last1=Dingemanse |first1=Mark |editor-last=van Lier |editor-first=Eva |title=Oxford Handbook of Word Classes |date=2023 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn= 978-0-19-188718-5 |pages=466–476 |doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198852889.013.15 |chapter=Ideophones }}</ref> evoking ideas of action, sound, movement, color, or shape. The class of ideophones is the least common syntactic category cross-linguistically; it occurs mostly in African, Australian, and Amerindian languages, and sporadically elsewhere. Ideophones resemble interjections but are different owing to their special phonetic or derivational characteristics, and based on their syntactic function within the sentence. They may include sounds that deviate from the language's phonological system, imitating—often in a repetitive manner—sounds of movement, animal noises, bodily sounds, noises made by tools or machines, and the like.<ref name="Sasse">{{cite book |last=Sasse |first=Hans-Jürgen |title=Syntax--Theory and Analysis: An International Handbook |date=2015 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-020276-2 |editor-last=Kiss and Alexiadou |pages=158–217 |chapter=Syntactic categories and subcategories}}</ref>
While English does have ideophonic or onomatopoetic expressions, it does not contain a proper class of ideophones because any English onomatopoeic word can be included in one of the classical categories. For example, ''la-di-da'' functions as an adjective while others, such as ''zigzag'', may function as a verb, adverb or adjective, depending on the clausal context. In the sentence "The rabbit zigzag'''ged''' across the meadow", the verb zigzag takes the past ''-ed'' verb ending. In contrast, the hypothetical example *"The rabbit ''zigzag zigzag'' across the meadow" emulates an ideophone but is not idiomatic to English.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/questions/27594/how-do-ideophones-and-onomatopoeia-work-in-english |title=Linguistics. How do ideophones and onomatopoeia work in English? |last= |first= |date= |website=linguistics.stackexchange.com |publisher= |access-date=7 October 2022 |quote=}}</ref>
Dictionaries of languages like Japanese, Korean, Xhosa, Yoruba, and Zulu list thousands of ideophones.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/handle_gakui/D1004724|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140104105027/http://www.lib.kobe-u.ac.jp/handle_gakui/D1004724|archive-date=January 4, 2014|title=A Grammar of Sound-Symbolic Words in Japanese: Theoretical Approaches to Iconic and Lexical Properties of Japanese Mimetics|last=Akita|first=Kimi|publisher=Kobe University|year=2009}}</ref> Sometimes ideophones are called ''phonosemantic'' to indicate that it is not a grammatical word class in the traditional sense of the word (like verb or noun), but rather a lexical class based on the special relationship between form and meaning exhibited by ideophones. In the discipline of linguistics, ideophones have sometimes been overlooked or treated as a subgroup of interjections.<ref name="Sasse2">{{cite book |last=Sasse |first=Hans-Jürgen |title=Syntax--Theory and Analysis: An International Handbook |date=2015 |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-020276-2 |editor-last=Kiss and Alexiadou |pages=158–217 |chapter=Syntactic categories and subcategories}}</ref>
==Characteristics==
The word ideophone was coined in 1935 by Clement Martyn Doke, who defined it in his ''Bantu Linguistic Terminology'' as follows.<ref name=":1">Doke 1935. p. 118. ''Bantu Linguistic Terminology.'' London: Longmans, Green, and Co.</ref>{{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.<ref name=":1" /> 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'.<ref name=":2" />
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.<ref>Westermann 1927</ref> Reduplication figures quite prominently in ideophones, often conveying a sense of repetition or plurality present in the evoked event.<ref>Watson in Voeltz & Kilian-Hatz 2001</ref> 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.<ref>Iwasaki et al. 2007, Dingemanse et al. 2015</ref> 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}}
Ideophones are also frequently accompanied by gesture and expressive intonational patterns (Nuckolls, 2019).
===Grammar=== 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).<ref>Voeltz & Kilian-Hatz 2001</ref>
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.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Samarin|first=William J.|year=1971|title=Survey of Bantu ideophones|journal=African Language Studies|volume=12|pages=130–168}}</ref> 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}}.<ref name=":0">Diffloth 1972</ref> 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 <u>sutasuta to</u> haya-aruki o shita'' "Taro walked hurriedly' (literally 'Taro did haste-walk ''sutasuta''<nowiki/>').<ref>{{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|hdl=21.11116/0000-0002-C12C-3 |s2cid=144380452 }}</ref> 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}}
===Registers=== 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.<ref name=":2">Noss in Voeltz & Kilian-Hatz 2001</ref> 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.<ref name="ReferenceA">Kunene in Voeltz & Kilian-Hatz 2001</ref>
==Examples== {{No citations section|date=April 2025}}
===Japanese=== {{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
===Tamil=== The Tamil language uses many ideophones, both in colloquial and formal usage. Ideophones are often, but not always, in the form of irattaik kilavi (இரட்டைக் கிளவி), meaning-free words that are only used in double succession. * ''busu busu'' ({{lang|ta|புசுபுசு}}) – soft and bushy * ''chattunu'' (சட்டுனு), also ''chattu buttunu'' (சட்டு புட்டுனு) -- instantly, speedily * ''choda choda'' ({{lang|ta|சொதசொத}}) – marshy, waterlogged * ''chuDa chuDa'' ({{lang|ta|சுடச்சுட}}) – piping hot * ''DamAl Dumeel'' (டமால்டுமீல்) ''--'' bursting sound * ''doLa doLa'' ({{lang|ta|தொளதொள}}) - hanging loose (as in loose fitting) * ''gaba gaba'' ({{lang|ta|கபகப}}) -- wolfing down food * ''gama gama'' (கமகம) -- fragrant, as in food * ''gaNeer'' (கணீர்) -- deep baritone * ''gappu chippu'' (கப்புசிப்பு) ''--'' silent * ''gara gara'' ({{lang|ta|கரகர}}) – crunchy (as in food), gravelly (as in voice) * ''giDu giDu'' ({{lang|ta|கிடுகிடு}}) – quickly, fast; also fearful * ''gubu gubu'' (குபுகுபு) -- rapid flow of, e.g., smoke, blood, etc. * ''jAm jAm'' (ஜாம்ஜாம்) -- posh, as in a wedding * ''kaDak maDak'' (கடக்மடக்) -- chewing something hard * ''kaNa kaNa'' ({{lang|ta|கணகண}}) -- warm, hot * ''kasa kasa'' (கசகச) ''--'' uncomfortably humid * ''kozha kozha'' ({{lang|ta|கொழகொழ}}) – slimy, gooey * ''kozhu kozhu'' ({{lang|ta|கொழுகொழு}}) – plump * ''kusu kusu'' (குசுகுசு) -- secretive * ''lap Dap'' (லப்டப்) -- heartbeat * ''labo thibo'' (லபோதிபோ) -- loudly * ''lokku lokku'' (லொக்கு லொக்கு) -- cough * ''longu longu'' (லொங்குலொங்கு) -- exhausted * ''mAngu mAngu'' ({{lang|ta|மாங்குமாங்கு}}) – laboriously * ''maDa maDa'' ({{lang|ta|மடமட}}) – quickly * ''masa masa'' ({{lang|ta|மசமச}}) – sluggish, lethargic * ''mozhu mozhu'' ({{lang|ta|மொழுமொழு}}) – smooth (surface) * ''noi noi'' (நொய்நொய்) -- nagging * ''paDa paDa'' (படபட) -- fluttering * ''paLa paLa'' ({{lang|ta|பளப்பள/பளபள}}) – glittering, shiny * ''paLAr'' (பளார்) -- slap * ''paLich'' (பளிச்) -- bright * ''pattu pattunu'' (பட்டு பட்டுனு) -- rapidly * ''pisupisuppu'' (பிசுபிசுப்பு) -- viscous greasiness * ''saDa saDa'' (சடசட) ''--'' rain * ''sala sala'' (சலசல) -- water ripples * ''sara sara'' (சரசர) ''--'' snake-like movement * ''sora sora'' ({{lang|ta|சொறசொற}}) – rough * ''suRu suRu'' (சுறுசுறு) -- spirited, keen * ''Tak Tak'' ({{lang|ta|டக்டக்}}) -- rapidly * ''thai thai'' (தைதை) -- nimble, as in dance * ''thaLa thaLa'' ({{lang|ta|தளதள}}) -- lush (as in a lush plant/orchard) * ''thillu mullu'' (தில்லு முல்லு) -- mischief * ''thiru thiru'' (திருதிரு) ''--'' suspicious looks * ''thoNa thoNa'' ({{lang|ta|தொணதொண}}) - annoyingly incessant * ''thuRu thuRu'' (துறுதுறு) - brisk, fervent * ''vaalu vaalu'' (வாலு வாலு) -- scolding * ''vala vala'' (வலவல) -- fearful * ''vazha vazha'' ({{lang|ta|வழவழ}}) – smooth, slippery * ''veDa veDa'' ({{lang|ta|வெடவெட}}) – shaking, trembling * ''vinnu vinnu'' (வின்னுவின்னு) -- pain * ''viru viru'' ({{lang|ta|விறுவிறு}}) – energetically (also, spicy) * ''visuk visuk'' (விசுக்விசுக்) -- express, brisk
===Xhosa===
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.'}}
==See also== * Ideasthesia * Sound symbolism (phonosemantics) * Synesthesia * Reduplication * Onomatopoeia * Japanese sound symbolism * Bouba/kiki effect
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== {{refbegin}} * {{Cite book| publisher = Cambridge University Press| isbn = 0-521-45219-8| pages = [https://archive.org/details/soundsymbolism0000unse/page/178 178–204]|editor1= Leanne Hinton |editor2=Johanna Nichols |editor3=John J. Ohala | last = Childs| first = G. Tucker| title = Sound Symbolism| chapter = African Ideophones| location = Cambridge| date = 1994| chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/soundsymbolism0000unse/page/178}} * {{Cite journal| volume = 8| pages = 440–447| last = Diffloth| first = Gérard| title = Notes on expressive meaning| journal = Chicago Linguistic Society| date = 1972}} * {{Cite journal| doi = 10.1016/j.tics.2015.07.013| volume = 19| issue = 10| pages = 603–615| last1 = Dingemanse| first1 = Mark| last2 = Blasi| first2 = Damián E.| last3 = Lupyan| first3 = Gary| last4 = Christiansen| first4 = Morten H.| last5 = Monaghan| first5 = Padraic| title = Arbitrariness, iconicity and systematicity in language| journal = Trends in Cognitive Sciences| date = 2015| pmid=26412098| hdl = 11858/00-001M-0000-0028-7AAB-C| s2cid = 3634642| hdl-access = free| author1-link = Mark Dingemanse}} * {{Cite journal| doi = 10.1353/lan.2016.0034| volume = 92| issue = 2| pages = e117–e133| last1 = Dingemanse | first1 = Mark| last2 = Schuerman| first2 = Will| last3 = Reinisch| first3 = Eva| last4 = Tufvesson| first4 = Sylvia| last5 = Mitterer| first5 = Holger| title = What sound symbolism can and cannot do: testing the iconicity of ideophones from five languages| journal = Language| date = 2016| hdl = 11858/00-001M-0000-002A-62F0-7| s2cid = 148546000| hdl-access = free}} * {{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}} * {{Cite journal| doi = 10.1098/rstb.2013.0298| issn = 0962-8436| volume = 369| issue = 1651| article-number = 20130298| last1 = Imai| first1 = Mutsumi| last2 = Kita| first2 = Sotaro| title = The sound symbolism bootstrapping hypothesis for language acquisition and language evolution| journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences| date = 2014-09-19| pmid = 25092666| pmc=4123677}} * {{Cite journal| volume = 17| pages = 53–78| last1 = Iwasaki| first1 = Noriko| last2 = Vinson| first2 = David P.| last3 = Vigliocco| first3 = Gabriella| title = What do English Speakers know about gera-gera and yota-yota?: A Cross-linguistic Investigation of Mimetic Words for Laughing and Walking| journal = Japanese Language Education Around the Globe| date = 2007}} * {{Cite book| publisher = University of Texas| pages = 131–142|editor1=Wai Fong Chiang |editor2=Elaine Chun |editor3=Laura Mahalingappa |editor4=Siri Mehus | last = Nuckolls| first = Janis B.| title = SALSA XI: Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Symposium about Language and Society| chapter = To be or to be not ideophonically impoverished| location = Austin| series = Texas Linguistic Forum| date = 2004}} * {{Cite book| publisher = John Benjamins| isbn = 978-90-272-2946-5|editor1= Voeltz, F. K. Erhard |editor2=Christa Kilian-Hatz | title = Ideophones| location = Amsterdam| series = Typological Studies in Language| date = 2001|url = https://vdocuments.mx/ideophones-typological-studies-in-language-44.html}} * {{Cite book| publisher = L. Friederichsen| pages = 315–328|editor1= Boas, Franz | last = Westermann| first = Diedrich Hermann| title = Festschrift Meinhof| chapter = Laut, Ton und Sinn in westafrikanischen Sudansprachen| location = Hamburg| date = 1927}} {{refend}}
==External links== *{{wti}}
Category:Phonaesthetics Category:Semantics Category:Parts of speech