Bam! Beep! Zoom! Buzz! Bang! It is a delight to study Onomatopoeia which defines words that imitate the regular sound related to an act or entity.

Onomatopoeia is funny sounding words that are easily picked up by students.

Students may use these words which sound like the very thing being named or written about. The pronunciation to the actual sound represented is very close to the sound depicted.

'Slap,' for example, not only means the sound that is made by hitting skin, but also the action of hitting someone on the face with a hand, similarly 'twitter' is more than just the sound birds make.

What is Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia is defined as a word, a poetic arrangement of words to convey how something sounds. It imitates the natural sounds of an action involved. When an action is named by replicating the sound related with it, is known as onomatopoeia. An example of onomatopoeia would be, “Cock-a-doodle-do, crowed the rooster.” Onomatopoeia is the creation of a word from a sound allied with what is named. For example, onomatopoeia is the pop of a balloon, the tweet of a bird, the whispering of the forest trees, or hum of a thousand bees.Onomatopoeia gives a rhetorical effect to words used.

Examples:

•'Rustle' is the action of somebody moving papers around and causing them to brush together but it also indicates the, sound of papers brushing together, thus making this noise. •'Whisper' not only signifies the sound of people talking quietly, but also defines the action of people talking softly.


Examples of Onomatopoeia

The following examples have been clustered according to their use.

Words Related to the Voice – Sounds that come from behind the throat starts with a gr- sound however sounds that originate from the mouth over the lips, teeth and tongue tend to begin with mu-.

Example:

    growl     

   belch     

    chatter     

   mumble    

      grunt   

blurt 

giggle

bawl

gurgle 

   murmur 

Words related to Water – Words related to water usually begin with sp- or dr-. Words that specify a lesser sum of liquid often end in -le such as sprinkle/drizzle.

Example:

    growl     

   belch     

    chatter     

   mumble    

      grunt   

blurt 

giggle

bawl

gurgle 

   murmur 

Words Related to Air – they describe the sounds of air gusting through things or of things rushing and blowing through the air.

Example:

  fwoosh   

  flutter   

  swoosh   

  whoosh   

  whisper   

  whip   

   fisst

  gasp

    swish

    whiff

    whizz

 puff

Animals Sounds – Animals speak a different language too, depending on where the chicken is from for instance, she might bok-bok, cluck-cluck, kot-kot, tok-tok, or cotcotcodet.

Example:

       baa       

      chirp    

 meow   

     chortle   

    cluck    

      bow-wow 

 oink

   buzz 

 tweet

cheep 

 hiss

 moo

 purr

 ribbit

bray 

 quack

bark 

 neigh 

 cuckoo

 warble

  cock-a-diddle-doo  

 woof

 yap 

 roar

 growl

 snarl

 chirp

 squeak

 howl

 twitter 

 chirp

 hoot

 hum

 gibber

 hee-haw 

 trumpet

Words Related to Collisions – can occur between two or more objects.

Sounds that begin with cl- frequently indicate collisions between metal, steel, crystal or glass objects, words that end in -ng are sounds that resonate.

Words that begin with th- generally define dull sounds like soft but heavy things hitting wood or earth.

Example:

      bam       

       clink     

    jingle    

      ding     

     bang     

 whomp 

clang 

clap 

clank 

 thud

    clatter

 boom

 thump

 wham 

 click

 slap

 smack

 crash

 slam

 screech

Miscellaneous Examples – Onomatopoeia can be found in literature, prose, poetry, songs, jingles and advertisements.

Consider the following examples of onomatopoeia:

      bing     

    mutter   

   rattle

 ping 

 boom

creak 

 rip

rush 

 beep

 creak

fizz 

 throb

 sip

 honk

 purr

 bash

  eeeyouch   

 ahem

crackle 

 sloshes

 pop

 shriek

 awww

knock  

 yelp

   woo-hoo  

 sneer

 Huh

 slobber 

 pong 

 achoo

   phwew  

 snort

   Ah-ooh-ga    

ding  

 moan 

 sizzle

 rat-a-tat

achoo

 yawn

 cough 

   vroom   

 drum

 dong

 click

 hiccup 

 cricket

 gobble

 zoom

>Benefits of using Onomatopoeia

Learning Onomatopoeia allows students to discover within themselves the enjoyment they can achieve as they learn the subject.

It helps a child to think creatively and become more knowledgeable.

Mentioned below are few benefits of using Onomatopoeia:

1. Sound words will be read with the objects related.

2. Students use their imaginings and imitate sounds for things.

3. The will be melodically prone with sounds words and use them to sing songs.

4. They will improve their Listening skills and attentively hear indoor and outdoor sounds.

5. Students will take part and use musical sounds in poems.

6. It helps students define sound on their own and list quite a few objects that make sounds.

7. Helps students to be imaginative, unique and creative.

8. Students will become familiar with the vocal organs, the vocal and produce speech sounds. Reference http://english.tutorvista.com/literary-response/onomatopoeia.html