Onomatopoeia - denten-courses/metaphor-media GitHub Wiki

Synthesis

Creating a word to properly describe the way you feel. (instead of “pain” saying “ouch”). But since now “ouch” is in a dictionary and so are a lot of other examples of onomatopoeia ("shush", "boom"), onomatopoeia is a questionable type of metaphor, since it can only exists for a short period of time. After the word is recognized by the dictionary it can no longer be classified as onomatopoeia.

Quotes

"On the other hand, onomatopoea, that is to say, the creation of a word, although regarded with the highest approbation by the Greeks, is scarcely permissible to a Roman. It is true that many words were created this way by the original founders of the languages, who adapted them to suit the sensation which they expressed."

Quintilian, Institutes of Oratory (95 CE) Volume III Book VIII (p. 319)

Examples

"For instance, mugitus, lowing, sibilius, a hiss, and murmur owe their origin to this practice."

Quintilian, Institutes of Oratory (95 CE) Volume III Book VIII (p. 319)

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"Variety is also provided by onomatopoeia or word-making, for example, taratantara for the sound of a trumpet, or sibilus, murmur, mugitus 'whistle, murmur, moo'."

Erasmus, De Copia (1512) Volume 24 Chapter 20 (pp. 337-338).

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Works Cited

Erasmus. De Copia. Toronto, Canadá: University of Toronto, 1973.

Quintilian. The Institutio Oratoria of Quintilian. Translated by H. E. Butler, Vol. III, Harvard University Press, 1922.