JF Ptak Science Books Post 1882
['Joom']--Sound of a pebble being thrown in a pond
["Seet']--Sound of someone eating something very spicy
I'm not sure that the idea of phonoaesthetics comes into play with the concept of onomotopeia--perhaps they're mutually exclusive. Or inclusive? Does cacophony fight euphony in lists of words that are composed to sound like the thing they represent? Or perhaps it is a given quality of this state that some of these words must sound cacophonus--"zok", "thak", or even "ptak" (which I saw in an issue of Sgt. Rock in the mid '60's as the sound bullets make when they strike a wooden dock)--simply because of what they represent, and must be so.
Then of course there's the issue of onomatopoeia that look like or presented like the sound they are describing. For example, the word "Whaam" that appeared in comic book and which was famously derived as art by Roy Lichtenstein.
When researching this I came upon cross-cultural examples of onomatopoeia--big an diwde and beautiufl and very far-ranging. It is a rich literature, and the examples are varied and deep. TO display an example I chose a list of of Thai onomatopoeia, all of which have been collected by the author of Weird Vibrations, who collected these many fine examples one-by-one and for whose work in this and other areas I deeply enjoy and appreciate. I include them below in an odd alphabet of oddness--all that I've done here is separate them into a handy assembly, but let's make sure that all of the credit of collection and transliteration belongs entirely to Weird Vibrations.
For example: "[Seet] Sound of someone eating something very spicy" is a curious word, mainly because I'm not sure what this might like unless "seet" is a quick ontake of breath. "Joom" is a lovely word, and it really does sound like a pebble striking a pond surface. Here are the others:
Thai Onomatopoeia (alphabetized to the English-language action rather than the Thai transliteration). Try sounding them out--many sound like their sounds, which might give a little credence to Mr. John Locke's theory of knowledge (or not).
A
[Gra It Gra Eeuan] To delay action through words
B
[Guy] Sound of someone bragging
[Krok Kraak] Sound of fluid bubbling in the stomach
C
[Gra Jaawng Angaae] Sound of children crying annoyingly
[Khaak] Sound of coughing something up
D
[Goop Gap] Sound of a dog walking on the ground
E
[Kleum] – To be enthralled to a spoken message, esp. out of drowsiness
[Seet] Sound of someone eating something very spicy
F as in "feint"
[Gra Euk Gra Ak] To stumble from nervousness
G
[Gra Aawm Aaem] To stumble in speech because you know you’re guilty
H
Sound of many solids hitting the ground at once
[Grong] Sound of impact from hollow things
I
[Aehng Aehng] Sound made by an injured dog
M
[Jae] Sound of chewing (mastication)
N as in nerve-making
[Gra Euk Gra Ak] To stumble from nervousness
P
[Joom] Sound of a pebble being thrown in a pond
R
[Suu] Sound of rain flowing or sloshing
[Khlook] Sound of a clay ball rolling fast
S
[Phua] Sound of a slap, or a whip cracking
[Phle] Sound of soft things falling
[Hat Cheeuy] Sound of sneezing
T
[Chap] Sound of cutting a tree branch
U (as in understatement, literally)
[Gra bpaawt Gra Bpaaet] To speak in a grumbling manner, esp. to someone of higher status
V
[Yai] – Thick, as a voice (like Whitney Houston, according my teacher)
W
[Gra Joong Gra Jing] To speak softly (esp. women – for some reason
Y as in "yell"
[Greet] To shriek (esp. women)
And then there's the beautiful
เคลิ้ม [Kleum] – To be enthralled to a spoken message, esp. out of drowsiness
which I just couldn't figure out a place for...
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