Onomatopoeia, including lute painting, sound painting, or onomatopoeia, is a rhetoric style used in all literary genres. Onomatopoeia means the reproduction and imitation of non-linguistic sounds by linguistic means. That is, words or phrases are intended to remind the receiver (reader, listener) of how this auditory sound or sound they actually sound sounds. Such onomatopoetic words therefore recall or mimic a sound, but are not always self-explanatory.
The term is a mixture of ancient Greek and French. The ancient Greek ónoma (ὄνομα) can be translated by name, whereby the French poésie can be translated through poetry. In some lexicons, therefore, the terms onomatopoeia and onomatopoeia are found, which prevents the intermingling of languages and points to the Greek origin. These nouns mean the same thing.
The Greek equivalent of the word shows us really what is going on. Thus, poíēsis (ποίησις) can be translated with creation or creation. Thus, the whole circumscribes the creation of a name and could be translated approximately with a name coined / rename. Onomatopoeia is therefore an attempt to imitate what is meant by means of sound means. Let’s look at an example.
(1) A cuckoo flies on the tree. The leaves are rustling.
The above example includes two onomatopoietics: cuckoo and rustle. The cuckoo bird owes its name to the male’s call. This call, that is, the gu-cow, was phonetically adopted into the animal’s name. Also in other languages, this can be traced back to the cuckoo bird (French ~ Coucou, italian ~ cucúo, russian ~ Kukuschka, Greek ~ koukoula, narrow ~ cuckoo, pol ~ kukułka, Latin cuculus).
The verb rustles also reminds of the noise it designates. The creaking consonant at the beginning, the r, and the hissing sound in the middle clearly illustrate the sound of the rustling. These examples are word-forming phonetics because whole words are derived from the sound of a process or thing, as well as dripping, rattling, whipping, or rumble. Furthermore, there are interjections:
(2) “Peng! I met the can! ”
The above example starts with the interjection peng. In German, interjections belong to the types of words and have no meaning in the narrow sense. Nevertheless, interjections express a certain sensation, assessment or will of speech. Such interjections consist of different groups. One of these includes all terms that attempt to mimic sounds and noises and are therefore onomatopoietics. Other examples would be puff, klong, ratchet, hui or boing.
(3) “Come here,” the mother implores ”
The direct speech of the example can be interpreted as an exclamation (exclamation), whereas the word fl ows to the circumscribed onomatopoetics. That is, the sound is not mimicked, as in the previous examples, but is designated by a word. Through this naming, however, the sound is implied, ie, indicated, without naming it unambiguously. Other examples include wooden, trumpet, metallic, and similar combinations.
Short overview: forms of onomatopoeia
(1) word-forming onomatopoietics: This form of onomatopoeia forms its own words. These remind in their sound of what is meant, and thus reproduce it phonetically.
(2) Interjections: Express my words, which have no lexical meaning anyway, nevertheless something. If they imitate sounds, they can be interpreted as onomatopoeia.
(3) circumscribed onomatopoietics: are words which do not sound immediately after what they mean but imply the sound. Name him by name.
Onomatopoeia as a rhetorical stylistic device
In rhetoric, all the above forms of onomatopoietics are believed, but the literary text has, above all, word-forming onomatopoeia a decisive effect. The ancient rhetoric still included the stylistic means to the tropics. At that time, however, tropes were still regarded as stylistic figures, which represent a departure from the everyday language. This is true of onomatopoeia.
In the literature, we find mainly lyric elements in poetry and rarely in prose texts. Here, however, not only does a single word achieve the phonetic effect, but usually several words are condensed which cause a certain basic mood and appear atmospheric. Let us take a look at an exemplary stanza by Clemens Brentano, a German poet:
If a song sings so sweetly,
Like the sources on the pebbles,
Like the bees around the linden tree
Sums, mutter, whisper, trickle.
In this example, which follows the cross-rhyme, the last verse is decisive. In the verses