Sounds and Names of Sounds
It is a fun lesson activity for children - but not only for children - to study and compare the different sounds of different animals in Japanese and English. A dog goes “wan wan,”or “bow-wow.” A cat goes “nia,”or “meow.” A horse goes “hi hin,”or “neigh.” And so on.
This is called onomatopoeia. Technically, onomatopoeia is a kind of rhyme scheme. Onomatopoeia are not really words. They are sounds put into phonetic form using letters that try to imitate the sounds they describe. So, for example, a dog does not really ‘say’ “bow-wow.” In English “bow wow” is just what a dog’s sound soundslike.
So, onomatopoeia are not so much the sounds that animals make as they are the sounds of the sounds that they make. These sounds also have names. For example, the name of the sound that a dog makes is called a bark. The sound of barking is:
·
bark , bow wow , woof depending on the size and breed of the animal.
The name of the sound of a horse is called a whinny. The sound of a whinny is called “neigh.”
The name of the sound of a cow is called a bellow, or just low. The sound of lowing is described as “mooooooo.”
The name of the sound of a frog is called a croak. The sound of croaking is described as “ribbit ribbit.”
The name of the sounds of sheep and goats is called a bleat. The sound of bleating is transcribed as
“baaa.”
The name of the sound that a rooster makes is called a crow. The sound of crowing is written as“cock-a-doodle-doo.”
The name of the sound that a pig makes is called a grunt. The sound of grunting is written as “oink oink.”
An owl hoots, and the sound of hooting is called “who who.”
A bear growls, and the sound of growling is written as “grrrrr!”
Wolves howl, and the sound of howling is“owwwwwwwwww!”
Monkeys and other apes gibber, and the sound of gibbering is something like “oo-oo-oo-oo-ee-ee-ee-ee.”
Snakes hiss, and birds chirrup; some birds even warble. Turkeys gobble and hens cluck.
Onomatopoeia are not restricted to animals sounds, but include any sound written in a linguistic, or phonetic manner. So, for example, the name of the sound of knocking on a door is called a knock, or rap. The sound of rapping is called “tap tap.”
The name of the sound of a bell is called a ring, and the sound of ringing is called “dig dong.”
A gun discharges, or it fires. The sound of a gun firing is called “bang!”or “pop,” or “pow,” or “rat-a-tat-tat” depending on
circumstances and the type of weapon.
Wind blows, and the sound of blowing may be something like “shhhhhh.”
And so on.