Indeed, «русский язык – велик и могуч!» [Russian language is great and powerful.] It has such wonderfully lengthy and unpronounceable words as

«Интернационализироваться» – to undergo a process of internationalization

«Одиннадцатиклассница» – female 11th grader

«Восьмидесятичетырёхлетний»- someone or something who’s 84 years old, presumably the grandfather of the said 11th grader

And «водогрязеторфопарафинолечение» – water-mud-peat-paraffin therapy to which this said grandfather credits his longevity.

Ever since I found these words in a Wikipedia article about «самое длинное русское слово» [the longest Russian word], I dreamt of an opportunity to use them.

But not in this post, not just yet. Instead, I’m going to talk about something near and dear to all of us, whether we suffer from «гиппопотомонстросескиппедалофобия» [this doesn’t even sound like a real word, but the same Wiki article says it means fear of very long words] or not. I’m going to talk about «звукоподражательные слова» [onomatopoeia] and these are mostly very short.

Let’s start with the basics.

Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the source of the sound it describes. This can be a sound made by a person, an animal or a natural object.

Every Russian source I consulted made sure to explain that onomatopoeia is not the same as «междометие» [interjection] because it does not express either «чувства» [feelings] nor «волю» [will].

If this sounds complicated, here’s an example from a children’s ditty:

«…Вдруг охотник выбегает
Прямо в зайчика стреляет.
Пиф! Паф! Ой-ой-ой!
Убегает зайчик мой.»

Suddenly a hunter runs out

And shoots at a bunny.

Bang! Bang! Ouch-ouch-ouch!

My bunny runs away.

«Пиф! Паф!» [Bang! Bang!] is an example of onomatopoeia while «ой-ой-ой!» [ouch-ouch-ouch] is an interjection.

Easy so far, isn’t it? But how does it help you speak more better Russian, preferably at above the preschool level? That’s where things get really interesting. In Russian, you can form a bunch of awesome and super-useful verbs based on «идеофоны» [yes, there is a shorter way to say onomatopoeia in Russian].

«Бабах, трах-бабах» – this is a loud noise made by a big gun or by something large falling down and, usually, breaking. The verb «бабахать» means to make a loud noise, as in «Гром так бабахнул, у меня в квартире чуть стекла не вылетели» [Thunder was so loud that it almost shattered glass in the windows of my apartment].

Бух – a sound of something or someone dropping to the ground. The verb is «бухать» or «бухаться» as in «Ваня бухнулся на колени…» [Vanya dropped down to his knees…]

The correct stress, on the first vowel, is particularly important in this word. When the second vowel is stressed – «бухать» – the meaning becomes to (heavily) drink alcohol or go on a drinking binge. For example, «Ваня бухнулся на колени перед женой и попросил прощения за то, что вчера так набухался» [Vanya dropped down to his knees in front of his wife and asked to be forgiven for getting drunk the day before].

Чпок – a sound you hear when uncorking a bottle of bubbly, opening a cold one of vodka or, worse comes to worse, pulling a tab on a can of «пиво» [beer]. Apparently, it is also a slang term for a mix of beer and vodka. «Чпокать», however, can mean a variety of things, from drinking to schtooping.

Understandably, a large number of onomato… whatevers comes from animal sounds:

Russian cats say «мяу-мяу» [meow] or «мур-мур» [purr]. The corresponding verbs are «мяукать» and «мурлыкать», respectively. As with English purring, the verb can be applied to humans as in «Света что-то промурлыкала Вове в ухо и он расплылся в улыбке» [Sveta purred something into Vova’s ear and his face melted into a smile].

The dogs say «гав-гав». The verbs «гавкать» or, better yet, «гавкаться» are also used to describe arguments or conversations in which one side gets verbally “chewed up”. «Мы с мужем часто гавкаемся по пустякам.» [My husband and I often have arguments over petty things].

Small dogs and puppies say «тяв-тяв» [yap]. While not nearly as scary as «гав-гав», «тяв-тяв» is exponentially more annoying. The verb «тявкать» is used to describe someone who is annoying. «Хорош тявкаться, помиритесь уже!» [Enough of the yapping; time to make up!]

Russian geese say «га-га». The verb «гоготать»  also means loud and oftentimes rude or inappropriate laughter.

Pigs say «xрю-хрю» [oink]. The verb «хрюкать» is not very remarkable. However, one of the cutest (in my opinion) Russian words is «хрюшка» [pig, piglet]. It’s much cuter than «свинья» [pig] or «поросенок» [piglet], especially when used to describe a messy child.

Crows in Russia say «кар-кар». «Вороны» [crows] are the dark, evil birds of many Russian stories, from folk tales to major works of literature. It’s no wonder that the verb «каркать» [to croak] has an added meaning of to predict misfortune, to profess ill.

«Кап-кап» is the sound of slowly dripping water. Keep the image of a leaking faucet in mind and you’ll easily guess the meanings of words «капля» [a drop], «капель» [a thaw], «капельница» [IV].

I’ll continue with more onomatopoeia in the next post. In the mean time, do you know any cool Russian «идеофоны»? Or maybe you want to know how other animate and inanimate objects sound in Russian. Let me know!