Page 1 of 1

Onomatopeia in Russian/the formation of a word from a sound

Posted: Jan 21st, 15, 20:58
by anaand
hello, does anyone know about onomatopeia in russian?
after i read the article about onomatopeia in russian, i have question in my mind.
i'm still confused about concept of onomatopeia in russian
for example:
which is onomatopeia in russian? is it мяу-мяу or мяукать or both? i mean, is that verb (мяукать) also called as onomatopeia or just мяу-мяу?

because according to the definition of onomatopeia is the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named. is that true мяукать include onomatopeia in russian?

spasibo :D

Re: Onomatopeia in Russian/the formation of a word from a so

Posted: Jan 25th, 15, 00:05
by Taras
If a word or a part of it imitates a sound, this word is called 'an onomatopoeia'. The formation or use of such words is called 'onomatopoeia'.
That's why 'мяу', 'мяукать', 'гав', 'гавкать' and all the other Russian words imitating sounds are called onomatopoeias. In English the situation is the same: 'miaow', 'to miaow', 'bark', 'to bark', etc. are called onomatopoeias too.

Now you know more things about onomatopoeia than an average Russian person :D The bulk of people doesn't deal with linguistics, so they are likely not to know even the word 'onomatopoeia'. As for me, I learned it only after searching on the Internet :)