Onomatopoeia - Definition and Examples in English

Onomatopoeia is the use of words (such as hiss or murmur) that imitate the sounds associated with the objects or actions they refer to. Adjective: onomatopoeic or onomatopoetic. An onomatope is a particular word that imitates the sound it denotes. Onomatopoeia is sometimes called a figure of sound rather than a figure of speech. As  Malcolm Peet and David Robinson point out,  Onomatopoeia is a fortunate by-product of meaning; few words and relatively few arrangements of words have sounds which are meaningful in themselves(Leading Questions, 1992). Etymology From the Latin, make names Examples and Observations Chug, chug, chug. Puff, puff, puff. Ding-dong, ding-dong. The little train rumbled over the tracks.(Watty Piper [Arnold Munk], The Little Engine That Could, 1930)Brrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinng! An alarm clock clanged in the dark and silent room.(Richard Wright, Native Son, 1940)Im getting married in the morning!Ding dong! the bells are gonna chime.(Lerner and Loewe, Get Me to the Church on Time. My Fair Lady, 1956)Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, oh what a relief it is.(slogan of Alka Seltzer, U.S.)Plink, plink, fizz, fizz(slogan of Alka Seltzer, U.K.)Two steps down, I heard that pressure-equalizing pop deep in my ears. Warmth hit my skin; sunlight shone through my closed eyelids; I heard the shat-HOOSH, shat-HOOSH of the weaving flats.(Stephen King, 11/22/63. Scribner, 2011)Woop! Woop! Thats the sound of da police, KRS-One famously chants on the hook of Sound of da Police from 1993s Return of the Boombap. The unmistakable sound he makes in place of the police siren is an example of onomatopo eia, the trope that works by exchanging the thing itself for a linguistic representation of the sound it makes.(Adam Bradley, Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop. BasicCivitas, 2009)Flora left Franklin’s side and went to the one-armed bandits spread along one whole side of the room. From where she stood it looked like a forest of arms yanking down levers. There was a continuous clack, clack, clack of levers, then a click, click, click of tumblers coming up. Following this was a metallic poof sometimes followed by the clatter of silver dollars coming down through the funnel to land with a happy smash in the coin receptacle at the bottom of the machine.(Rod Serling, The Fever. Stories from the Twilight Zone, 2013)Hark, hark!Bow-wow.The watch-dogs bark!Bow-wow.Hark, hark! I hearThe strain of strutting chanticleerCry, Cock-a-diddle-dow!(Ariel in William Shakespeares The Tempest, Act One, scene 2)Onomatopoeia every time I see yaMy senses tell me hubbaAnd I just cant disagree.I get a feeling in my heart that I cant describe. . . .Its sort of whack, whir, wheeze, whineSputter, splat, squirt, scrapeClink, clank, clunk, clatterCrash, bang, beep, buzzRing, rip, roar, retchTwang, toot, tinkle, thudPop, plop, plunk, powSnort, snuck, sniff, smackScreech, splash, squish, squeakJingle, rattle, squeal, boingHonk, hoot, hack, belch.(Todd Rundgren, Onomatopoeia. Hermit of Mink Hollow, 1978)Klunk! Klick! Every trip(U.K. promotion for seatbelts)[Aredelia] found Starling in the warm laundry room, dozing against the slow rump-rump of a washing machine.(Thomas Harris, Silence of the Lambs, 1988)Jemimah: Its called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.Truly Scrumptious: Thats a curious name for a motorcar.Jemimah: But thats the sound it makes. Listen.Its saying chitty chitty, chitty chitty, chitty chitty, chitty chitty, chitty chitty, bang bang! chitty chitty . . ..(Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 1968)Bang! went the pistol,Crash! went the windowOuch! went the son of a gun.Onomatopoeia--I dont want to see yaSpeaking in a foreign tongue.(John Prine, Onomatopoeia. Sweet Revenge, 1973)He saw nothing and heard nothing but he could feel his heart pounding and then he heard the clack on stone and the leaping, dropping clicks of a small rock falling.(Ernest Hemingway, For Whom the Bell Tolls, 1940)It went zip when it moved and bop when it stopped,And whirr when it stood still.I never knew just what it was and I guess I never will.(Tom Paxton, The Marvelous Toy. The Marvelous Toy and Other Gallimaufry, 1984)I like the word geezer, a descriptive sound, almost onomatopoeia, and also coot, codger, biddy, battleax, and most of the other words for old farts.(Garrison Keillor, A Prairie Home Companion, January 10, 2007) Creating Sound Effects in Prose A sound theory underlies the onomaht--that we read not only with our eyes but also with our ears. The smallest child, learning to read by reading about bees, needs no translation for buzz. Subconsciously we hear the words on a printed page.Like every other device of the writing art, onomatopoeia can be overdone, but it is effective in creating mood or pace. If we skip through the alphabet we find plenty of words to slow the pace: balk, crawl, dawdle, meander, trudge and so on.The writer who wants to write fast has many choices. Her hero can bolt, dash, hurry or hustle.(James Kilpatrick, Listening to What We Write. The Columbus Dispatch, August 1, 2007) Linguists on Onomatopoeia Linguists almost always begin discussions about onomatopoeia with observations like the following: the snip of a pair of scissors is su-su in Chinese, cri-cri in Italian, riqui-riqui in Spanish, terre-terre in Portuguese, krits-krits in modern Greek. . . . Some linguists gleefully expose the conventional nature of these words, as if revealing a fraud.(Earl Anderson, A Grammar of Iconism. Fairleigh Dickinson, 1999) A Writer's Word My favorite word is onomatopoeia, which defines the use of words whose sound communicates or suggests their meanings. Babble, hiss, tickle, and buzz are examples of onomatopoeic usage.The word onomatopoeia charms me because of its pleasing sound and symbolic precision. I love its lilting alternation of consonant and vowel, its tongue-twisting syllabic complexity, its playfulness. Those who do not know its meaning might guess it to be the name of a creeping ivy, or a bacterial infection, or maybe a small village in Sicily. But those acquainted with the word understand that it, too, in some quirky way, embodies its meaning.Onomatopoeia is a writers word and a readers nightmare but the language would be poorer without it.(Letty Cottin Pogrebin, quoted by Lewis Burke Frumkes in Favorite Words of Famous People. Marion Street Press, 2011) The Lighter Side of Onomatopoeia Russian Negotiator: Why must every American president bound out of an automobile like as at a yacht club while in comparison our leader looks like . . . I dont even know what word is.Sam Seaborn: Frumpy?Russian Negotiator: I dont know what frumpy is but onomatopoetically sounds right.Sam Seaborn: Its hard not to like a guy who doesnt know frumpy but knows onomatopoeia.(Ian McShane and Rob Lowe in Enemies Foreign and Domestic. The West Wing, 2002)I have a new book, Batman: Cacophony. Batman faces off against a character called Onomatopoeia. His shtick is that he doesnt speak; he just mimics the noises you can print in comic books.(Kevin Smith, Newsweek, Oct. 27, 2008) Pronunciation: ON-a-MAT-a-PEE-a Also Known As: echo word, echoism

Obama s Immigration Reform Policy - 952 Words

Introduction For this observation report I have chosen to talk about Obama’s immigration reform policy. It seems as if immigration has been an on-going issue in the United States for quite some time. Whether people are for it or against it; immigration has always been a topic of discussion. We may not see it on the news everyday but we are surrounded by the discussion at home, in school, around friends, and even co-workers. Policy Overview Obama’s policy which goes by the name of the Common Sense Proposal, is tackling the ongoing issue of immigration in America. In his proposal Obama focuses on four main areas which are; the continuation of strengthening border security, making sure employers are not hiring undocumented workers, forming a path to earned citizenship, and restructuring our legal immigration system (â€Å"Immigration†, n.d.). With this policy the president does not want to punish those who do not need to be punished by this he has three key elements are important; these elements are cracking down on illegal immigration at the border, deporting felons not families, and accountability, which entails background checks and taxes (â€Å"Immigration†, n.d.). Prevailing Philosophies, Values, and Attitudes of the General Public There is no question that there is a discrepancy on the topic of immigration. Many support it and many are opposed. Take into consideration Donald Trum p’s views right now. He has his own plan of what he would like the immigration reform to do if heShow MoreRelatedImmigration During The United States1662 Words   |  7 PagesTara Paddyaker PS1113 Roni O’Dell Word: 1662 Immigration Immigration has played a huge role in settling America. Once known as â€Å"the melting pot† America has a wider diverse population. The history of immigration is what built America and created that diversity. 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Henry Dvid Thoreau Biography (in First Person) Free Essays

I was born in Concord, Massachusetts on July 12, 1817. My family consisted of my Ma and Pa and three siblings; Helen, John Jr. and Sofia. We will write a custom essay sample on Henry Dvid Thoreau Biography (in First Person) or any similar topic only for you Order Now We lived a very humble life; my father worked in a pencil company while my mother tended to the house and took care of me and my siblings. (Otfinoski pg. 60) My family was really pushing for me to start school at Harvard College but the cost was too expensive for my family. My father owned a small pencil factory and my mother took in boarders to help make ends meet. But, through great sacrifice my family was able to pitch in the money to send me to college, and so I entered the class of 1833 at the age of 16 and graduated in the year 1837. (Otfinoski pg. 60) After graduating Harvard College I went back to Concord to start my own academy with my brother John Jr. and teach the way I felt was right. Together with my brother we taught about 20 students. I believe that the academy would have lasted longer if my brother hadn’t taken ill, the work was just too much for me to manage on my own. Otfinoski pg. 61-62) Shortly after closing the academy my brother died I was devastated. I walked 40 miles to attend one of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s lectures, soon after I was able to meet the great man. Emerson offered me a job; it was as a caretaker and a handyman in his home I would live there and work while he was away doing his lectures. In our free time we would discuss Transcendentalism, a philosophy for which he was well known. I was inspired by his radical view and ideas, and looked up to him as a mentor and hero. (Otfinoski pg. 2) Feeling it was time to see more of the world I left Emerson’s and headed back to Concord. In March 1845 I headed towards Walden Pond where I built a cabin for myself and stood there for two years. My reasons for going there were to experience life and discover the true account of it. During my time at the Walden Pond I worked tirelessly on the manuscripts that will later become my first two books. (Otfinoski pg. 62-64) In May of 1849 a Boston publisher published my first book, A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers. Although it sold poorly I never gave up. I later wrote about my experience living at the Walden Pond this book was entitled Walden which also wasn’t as popular as I would have hoped but that still didn’t bring me down. (Otfinoski pg. 64-66) Soon, nature being the very thing that I loved became my enemy as I contracted tuberculosis from living in the outdoors with the bad weather and the constant exposure to the graphite dust working in the pencil factory all caught up to me and on May 6, 1862 I died at the age of 45 years old. (Otfinoski pg. 67-69) How to cite Henry Dvid Thoreau Biography (in First Person), Papers

Chemical Composition of the Wood free essay sample

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Tshwane University of Technology, Private Bag X680, Pretoria 0001, South Africa b Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Anadolu University, 26470-Eskisehir, Turkey Received 15 February 2010; received in revised form 31 March 2010; accepted 1 April 2010 Abstract Widdringtonia is the only genus of the 16 genera of Cupressaceae present in South Africa. This genus is represented by three species in South Africa; W. nodiflora, W. schwarzii and W. cedarbergensis (= W. juniperoides) and the latter listed as critically endangered. Cedarwood oil (generally obtained from Juniperus species) is widely used as a fragrance material in several consumer products, however, no data has been published on the volatiles of the Clanwilliam cedar (W. cedarbergensis) native to South Africa. The essential oil composition of the wood and leaf oil isolated by hydro-distillation were analysed by GC–MS. The two oils were distinctly different. Twenty compounds representing 93. 8% of the total oil were identified in the leaf oil which was dominated by terpinen-4-ol (36. We will write a custom essay sample on Chemical Composition of the Wood or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 0%), sabinene (19. 2%), ? -terpinene (10. 4%), ? terpinene (5. 5%) and myrcene (5. 5%). Twenty six compounds representing 89. 5% of the total were identified in the wood oil with the predominance of thujopsene (47. 1%), ? -cedrol (10. 7%), widdrol (8. 5%) and cuparene (4. 0%).  © 2010 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Essential oil; Sabinene; Terpinen-4-ol; Thujopsene; Widdringtonia cedarbergensis; Widdrol; ? -Cedrol; ? -Terpinene 1. Introduction The genus Widdringtonia belongs to the Cupressaceae (cypress family) of which the name is derived from the well known conifer botanist Edward Widdrington. The cypress family is represented by 16 genera with one genus (Widdringtonia) present in southern Africa more precisely in South Africa and Malawi (Farjon, 2005). There are four species of Widdringtonia, all native to southern Africa. Three of these species are native to South Africa (W. nodiflora, W. schwarzii and W. cedarbergensis) and Widdringtonia whytei is native to Malawi. Widdringtonia cedarbergensis J. A. Marsh generally known as â€Å"Clanwilliam ? Corresponding author. Tel. : +27 12 3826360; fax: +27 12 3826243. E-mail address: [emailprotected] ac. za (A. M. Viljoen). Cedar, Cape Cedar, sederboom or Clanwilliam cypress† is an evergreen tree usually 5–7 m tall but could reach a height of 20 m (Fig. 1). Today, this plant is critically endangered due to loss of habitat, unsustainable harvesting and recurrent veld fires. This species is facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild and for this reason it has been placed on the Red Data List of South African Plants (Farjon, 2005; Mustart et al. , 1995; Pauw and Linder, 1997). The tree is renowned for its valuable timber and used for construction and furniture and has been used to treat several ailments such as gout, rheumatism, oedematous swellings. The heartwood of Widdringtonia cedarbergensis is pungently aromatic and produces oil which may have various applications. However, the chemical composition of this oil has not been investigated. Cedarwood oil produced by various species is used as an exclusive ingredient in several consumer products. While Texas cedarwood is mostly used as feedstock for the production of some compounds such as cedrol, cedryl 0254-6299/$ see front matter  © 2010 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved. doi:10. 1016/j. sajb. 2010. 04. 002 G. P. P. Kamatou et al. / South African Journal of Botany 76 (2010) 652–654 53 Fig. 1. The Clanwilliam cedar in habitat. methyl ether, acetyl cedrene, Virginia cedarwood is used in cosmetic formulations, soaps, perfumes, aftershave lotions (FAO, 1995; Schreiber, 1996). It was also noted that cedarwood oil is used in combination with other substances as a homeopathic remedy and marketed as a vaporizing ointment for skin application. We here prov ide the first analysis of this iconic species which occurs at an altitude of 2000 m on the Cedarberg Mountains and compare the essential oil composition with some commercial cedarwood oils. 2. Materials and methods 2. . Plant material After obtaining a collecting permit from Cape Nature Conservation the leaves and wood of Widdringtonia cedarbergensis were collected near Driehoek (S 32 25. 508 E 19 08. 810, 1136 m) in the Cedarberg region (Western Cape) of South Africa. The oil was isolated by hydro-distillation using the Clevenger type apparatus for 3 h from the fresh plant material. The oils were then stored at 7  °C until analysis. 2. 2. Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC–MS) The oil was analysed by GC–MS (Agilent 6890 N GC system coupled directly to a 5973 MS). A volume of 1  µl was injected using a split ratio (200:1) with an autosampler at 24. 79 psi and an inlet temperature of 250  °C. The GC system equipped with a HP-Innowax polyethylene glycol column 60 m ? 250  µm i. d. ? 0. 25  µm film thickness was used. The ion source operates by electron ionization and the GC–MS interface temperature was 260  °C. The oven temperature program was 60  °C for the first 10 min, rising to 220  °C at a rate of 4  °C/min and held for 10 min and then rising to 240  °C at a rate of 1  °C/min. Helium was used as carrier gas at a constant flow of 1. 2 ml/min. Spectra were obtained on electron impact at 70 eV, scanning from 35 to 550 m/z. The percentage composition of the individual components were obtained from electronic integration measurements using flame ionization detection (FID). n-Alkanes were used as reference points in the calculation of relative retention indices (RRI). The identification of the compounds was carried out using NIST ®, Mass Finder ® and Flavour ® and the Baser Library of Essential Oil Constituents by comparing mass spectra and retention indices (Viljoen et al. , 2008). 3. Results The essential oil yields of the wood and leaves were 0. 5 and 0. 10%, respectively (Table 1). The oils isolated from the leaves and wood of Widdringtonia cedarbergensis are distinctly different and no common compounds could be identified in the two oils (Table 1). Twenty compounds were identified from the leaves representing 93. 8% of the total oil. The major constituent include terpinen-4-ol (36%), sabinene (19. 2%), ? terpinene ( 10. 4%), ? -terpinene (5. 5%) and myrcene (5. 5%) (Table 1). In the wood oil the major compounds include thujopsene (= widdrene) (47. 1%), ? -cedrol (10. 7%), widdrol (8. 5%) and cuparene (4. 0%) (Table 1). The chemical structures of these four compounds are presented in Fig. 2. The composition of W. cedarbergensis oil is qualitatively comparable to other cedarwood oils such as Virginia cedarwood (Juniperus virginiana), Texas cedarwood (Juniperus ashei or J. mexicana) and Mulanje cedarwood (W. whytei) (Table 2), however ? -funebrene, thujopsenal, mayurone, ? -cedral and ? bisabolol found in the Clanwilliam cedarwood (W. cedarbergensis) oil could not be identified in Mulanje cedarwood (W. whytei) native to Malawi. 654 G. P. P. Kamatou et al. / South African Journal of Botany 76 (2010) 652–654