Definition and Examples of Onomatopoeia – Literary terms

Definition and Examples of Onomatopoeia, Onomatopoeia Examples, Onomatopoeia Definition, Literary terms Onomatopoeia

Definition and Examples of Onomatopoeia – Literary terms

Onomatopoeia:

The use of words whose sound imitates the sound of the thing being named. For example, the pronunciation of words like hum, buzz, clang, boom, hiss, crack, and twitter suggests their meaning. The value of onomatopoeia as a poetic device becomes evident when sound echoes sense throughout an entire phrase or line:

The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.

And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple

curtain The moan of doves in immemorial elms,

And murmuring of innumerable bees.

"Tis the night of doom," say the ding-dong doom-bells.

 

Onomatopoeia from Oxford dictionary:

onomatopoeia [on-o-mat-o-pee-a], the use of words that seem to imitate the sounds they refer to (whack, fizz, crackle, hiss); or any combination of words in which the sound gives the impression of echoing the sense. This FIGURE OF SPEECH is often found in poetry,  sometimes in prose. It relies more on conventional associations between verbal and non-verbal sounds than on the direct duplication of one by the other. Adjective: onomatopoeic.

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