{"id":32081,"date":"2020-06-19T19:08:33","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T17:08:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=32081"},"modified":"2021-03-18T21:34:40","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T20:34:40","slug":"french-onomatopoeia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/french-onomatopoeia\/","title":{"rendered":"French Onomatopoeia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bonjour!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Today I want to explore the linguistic phenomenon of onomatopoeia,<\/strong>\u00a0which is the formation of a word from a sound associated with that word. It originates from the word\u00a0\u1f40\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03af\u03b1<\/em> in the Greek language which means \u2018making or creating names\u2019, and in English we use it to describe the unique words made to imitate sounds. In French, the word is\u00a0onomatop\u00e9e.<\/em><\/p>\n

You may have already realized that onomatop\u00e9e <\/em>differ in\u00a0each language, thanks to different pronunciation and spelling. In France\u00a0<\/i>cows\u00a0do not moo\u00a0<\/em>and cats do not hiss. <\/i>The French do not say yum<\/em> when presented with\u00a0a mouth-watering bowl of b\u0153uf\u00a0bourgignon<\/em>, and they certainly do not g<\/em>lug-glug\u00a0<\/i>when drinking a vintage Bordeaux wine. Let’s see what the French say instead…<\/p>\n

Sounds of humans:<\/strong><\/p>\n

boire, glou glou<\/em>\u00a0= to drink, glug glug<\/p>\n

manger, miam<\/em>\u00a0= to eat, yum<\/p>\n

\u00e9ternuer, atchoum<\/em>\u00a0= to sneeze, achoo<\/p>\n

se blesser, a\u00efe<\/em>\u00a0= to hurt oneself, ow<\/p>\n

beurk!<\/em> = yuck!<\/p>\n

heu<\/i>, euh = <\/i>um, hm<\/p>\n

faire chut \u00e0, chut = <\/em>to shush,\u00a0<\/em>shh<\/p>\n

crier, pleurer, ouin-ouin = <\/em>to cry, wah-wah<\/p>\n

dormir, rrr, ron-pshi<\/em>\u00a0= to sleep, zzzz<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sounds of animals:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

miauler, miaou<\/em>\u00a0= to meow, meow<\/p>\n

aboyer, ouaf ouaf<\/em>\u00a0= to bark, ruff ruff<\/p>\n

siffler, siff =\u00a0<\/i>to hiss, hiss<\/p>\n

meugler, meuh =<\/i> to moo, moo<\/p>\n

grogner, grouin grouin =\u00a0<\/i>to grunt, oink oink<\/p>\n

hurler, aoouu = <\/i>to howl, awooo<\/p>\n

hululer, ouh ouh = <\/i>to hoot, hoo hoo<\/p>\n

Sounds of objects:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

tic-tac<\/em> – tick-tock<\/p>\n

dring-dring<\/em> – ring-ring<\/p>\n

dingue-dongue<\/em> – ding-dong<\/p>\n

plouf<\/em> – splash<\/p>\n

patatra – <\/em>kaboom<\/p>\n

pan-pan – <\/em>bang-bang<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My favorite French onomatop\u00e9e <\/em>that doesn’t seem to have a good English translation is “hop-l\u00e0!<\/em>” Usually used when picking up something off the ground – kids, groceries, etc. The best thing to do when learning these types of phrases is to just listen carefully to those around you and when they use it contextually and mimic it!<\/p>\n

This is just a short list of many instances of onomatop\u00e9e\u00a0<\/em>that you may see in French text to describe certain sounds made by objects, humans, and animals. Images courtesy of the bande dessin\u00e9e, <\/i>or comic\u00a0book,\u00a0Ast\u00e9rix. <\/i>Comic books are a great way to\u00a0learn the language, as well as see lots of fun examples of\u00a0 onomatopoeia!<\/p>\n

Have you heard or know any others? Comment them below!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bonjour!\u00a0 Today I want to explore the linguistic phenomenon of onomatopoeia,\u00a0which is the formation of a word from a sound associated with that word. It originates from the word\u00a0\u1f40\u03bd\u03bf\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03bf\u03c0\u03bf\u03b9\u03af\u03b1 in the Greek language which means \u2018making or creating names\u2019, and in English we use it to describe the unique words made to imitate sounds. In…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32081","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-language"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t