Arabic-L:LING:Onomatopoeic words in Arabic

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Wed 13 Dec 2006
Moderator: Dilworth Parkinson <dilworth_parkinson at byu.edu>
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-------------------------Directory------------------------------------

1) Subject:Onomatopoeic words in Arabic
2) Subject:Onomatopoeic words in Arabic
3) Subject:Onomatopoeic words in Arabic
4) Subject:Onomatopoeic words in Arabic

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1)
Date: 13 Dec 2006
From:"Sane Yagi" <saneyagi at gmail.com>
Subject:Onomatopoeic words in Arabic

Hi,

For me, an onomatopoeic word is a word that represents subjective  
perception of the sounds of nature. Evidence to that is the words  
that different languages have for the sound made by a dog. Notice how  
the word initial sound in Arabic is a voiced pharyngeal!

A good test whether a word is onomatopoeic in Arabic is whether it  
has syllable duplication. tamtama, gamgama, and jaljala qualify!

Best,
yagi

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2)
Date: 13 Dec 2006
From:"Dr. M. Deeb" <muhammaddeeb at gmail.com>
Subject:Onomatopoeic words in Arabic


                               
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------
                              |   > Do you think that the follow
                              |   >  > words in Arabic are examples  
of onomatopoeia?
                              |   >  >
                              |   >  > تمتم
                              |   >  > غمغم
                              |  >  > جلجل
                              |   >  >
                              |   >  > Thanks,
                              |   >  >
                              |  >  > Jeremy Palme
                              ------------------------------


On the onomatopoeia query:

               I.      Lest there be any misunderstanding, it is fair  
to ward off any suggestion that onomatopoeia is confined to certain  
quadriliteral verbs.  This figure of speech occurs in Arabic nouns,  
adjectives and verbal forms.

               I.      In respect of Dr. Palmer’s query, the  
doubling of the biliteral root (مضعف الرباعي) often  
expresses sound or movement, both of which are suggestive of  
onomatopoeia.  His (تمتم ، غمغم ،   جلجل) are perfect  
examples.

            II.      This verb form is both regular and common in  
Standard Written Arabic and spoken vernaculars, so much so that  
almost any letter in the Arabic alphabet would yield countless verbal  
forms, nouns   (مصادر)and adjectives, most of which are largely  
onomatopoeic.

          III.      Although the distinction between onomatopoeia  
(echoing) and kinesis (movement) is quite subtle, it would still be  
interesting to sort out such verbs and nouns.  A desultory leafing of  
Hans Wehr and لسان العرب leads me to a preliminary hypothesis  
that the onomatopoeic incidence is more frequent and much larger.

         IV.      To end on a light note, I would like to recall the  
pre-Islamic poet, Maymuun ibn Qays (الأعشى الكبير), who is  
keen to built up the phonoaesthetic effect in his poetry.  In one  
striking line of his l-rhymed ode, he combines such figures of speech  
as alliteration, assonance, synomymity and onomatopoeia:

وقد غدوت إلى الحانوت يتبعني        شاو  
نشول مشل شلشل شول

(Many a time I hastened in the morning to the tavern,
while there ran on my heels
an agile, spirited, fully energetic, compliant cook.)

             I hope this may help, and perhaps encourage revisiting  
the larger question of onomatopoeia.

                                                                         
                                                                         
                          M. Deeb

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3)
Date: 13 Dec 2006
From:"Schub, Michael B." <Michael.Schub at trincoll.edu>
Subject:Onomatopoeic words in Arabic

'echoic' is lots easier to spell.  how about   /gharghara/  =  'to  
gargle;'  but not  /`an`ana/  =  'to relate (mostly) Hadiths to   
[`an] reliable authorities?'                             --ms


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4)
Date: 13 Dec 2006
From:moderator
Subject:Onomatopoeic words in Arabic

Several of you informed me that the Arabic script did not come  
through either time I posted the onomatopoea jmessage.  I haven't  
been able to figure out why.  For anyone who cares, a transliteration  
of the words Jeremy originally was asking about is:

tamtama
ghamghama
jaljala

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End of Arabic-L:  13 Dec 2006
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