Onomatopoeic Bird Names in English Cover Image

Zvukomalebná pojmenování ptáků v angličtině
Onomatopoeic Bird Names in English

Author(s): Petr Kos
Subject(s): Applied Linguistics, Phonetics / Phonology
Published by: Univerzita Karlova v Praze - Filozofická fakulta, Vydavatelství
Keywords: bird nomenclature; onomatopoetica; phonetic motivation; phonological analysis;

Summary/Abstract: The paper aims to analyze onomatopoeia in bird names in English. Three basic types of onomatopoeic bird names are distinguished: pure onomatopoeia, in which the names reflect the birds’ vocalizations without any other subsequent morphological changes; onomatopoeia with added meaning, in which the names sound as if the birds were saying human utterances, and morphologically motivated onomatopoeia, in which the onomatopoeic bases take part in other word-formation processes, namely compounding and suffxation. The phonological analysis of purely onomatopoeic names searches for tendencies in their syllabic structure and in the make-up of the onset of the first syllable. The last section deals with arbitrariness in onomatopoeic names.

  • Issue Year: 96/2014
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 74-81
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: Czech