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How to say om nom nom in Hungarian, and other onomatopoeic insights How to say om nom nom in Hungarian, and other onomatopoeic insights
(about 4 hours later)
We all have our tastes when it comes to style. Last month it was revealed that Time magazine’s are fairly conservative. Its suggestion that the word “feminist” be banned sparked a furore (it subsequently apologised). It also recoiled at the slangy use of “bae”, “turnt” and “yaaasssss”. It named and shamed “literally”, literally years after everyone else. Some business jargon made it in there too, as did the odd internet abbreviation. So far, so familiar. One bugbear, however, is going to be particularly difficult to eradicate. “Om nom nom nom”, you see, has an important linguistic principle on its side.We all have our tastes when it comes to style. Last month it was revealed that Time magazine’s are fairly conservative. Its suggestion that the word “feminist” be banned sparked a furore (it subsequently apologised). It also recoiled at the slangy use of “bae”, “turnt” and “yaaasssss”. It named and shamed “literally”, literally years after everyone else. Some business jargon made it in there too, as did the odd internet abbreviation. So far, so familiar. One bugbear, however, is going to be particularly difficult to eradicate. “Om nom nom nom”, you see, has an important linguistic principle on its side.
Like its pre-internet equivalent, “yum yum yum”, it uses repeated bilabial consonants in imitation of the jaw movements made when eating; as these consonants are also nasal – formed with air escaping through the nose – it gives the impression of a mouth full of food. Normally the sound of a word has no relationship with its meaning, but when it does linguists talk of iconicity. The more familiar word is onomatopoeia.Like its pre-internet equivalent, “yum yum yum”, it uses repeated bilabial consonants in imitation of the jaw movements made when eating; as these consonants are also nasal – formed with air escaping through the nose – it gives the impression of a mouth full of food. Normally the sound of a word has no relationship with its meaning, but when it does linguists talk of iconicity. The more familiar word is onomatopoeia.
Something like “om nom nom nom” is always going to be with us, as the sound of eating is pretty easy to convey using the mouth, for obvious reasons. In fact the formula is startlingly similar across languages.Something like “om nom nom nom” is always going to be with us, as the sound of eating is pretty easy to convey using the mouth, for obvious reasons. In fact the formula is startlingly similar across languages.
That isn’t always the case. You might assume onomatopoeic words for similar things would be as recognisable in French or in Chinese. Often they aren’t. That’s because onomatopoeia involves a non-linguistic sound being filtered through a linguistic sound system. That system is made up of phonemes, the individual building blocks of meaningful speech. The choice of phonemes available to speakers varies massively depending on what language they’re using. Rotokas, for example, spoken in Papua New Guinea, has only six consonants: p, t, k, b, d, g (standard British English has 24). In contrast, !Xóõ, spoken in Botswana has 122, many of which are clicks – giving it a much greater imitative range.That isn’t always the case. You might assume onomatopoeic words for similar things would be as recognisable in French or in Chinese. Often they aren’t. That’s because onomatopoeia involves a non-linguistic sound being filtered through a linguistic sound system. That system is made up of phonemes, the individual building blocks of meaningful speech. The choice of phonemes available to speakers varies massively depending on what language they’re using. Rotokas, for example, spoken in Papua New Guinea, has only six consonants: p, t, k, b, d, g (standard British English has 24). In contrast, !Xóõ, spoken in Botswana has 122, many of which are clicks – giving it a much greater imitative range.
Taking seven unrelated languages, you can see how diverse onomatopeia can be. For example, the sounds dogs make:Taking seven unrelated languages, you can see how diverse onomatopeia can be. For example, the sounds dogs make:
(Health warning: These examples are culled from the Wikipedia page on cross-linguistic onomatopoeia, which despite having “multiple issues” is the biggest collection of its kind I’ve been able to discover. The transliteration may not be consistent, and the words given might not be those every native speaker would have picked. So please bear that in mind – I’d be grateful for corrections or adjustments in the comments. Pinpoint accuracy here is sacrificed for a general idea of how onomatopoeia works.)(Health warning: These examples are culled from the Wikipedia page on cross-linguistic onomatopoeia, which despite having “multiple issues” is the biggest collection of its kind I’ve been able to discover. The transliteration may not be consistent, and the words given might not be those every native speaker would have picked. So please bear that in mind – I’d be grateful for corrections or adjustments in the comments. Pinpoint accuracy here is sacrificed for a general idea of how onomatopoeia works.)
What about about ducks? Perhaps because the call is so distinctive and doesn’t vary a great deal, the onomatopoeia is fairly regular.What about about ducks? Perhaps because the call is so distinctive and doesn’t vary a great deal, the onomatopoeia is fairly regular.
A bird singing?A bird singing?
A chicken?A chicken?
Away from the animal kingdom, noises that are consistently the same often give rise to onomatopoeia.Away from the animal kingdom, noises that are consistently the same often give rise to onomatopoeia.
A balloon or bubble bursting:A balloon or bubble bursting:
A car horn sounding:A car horn sounding:
A telephone ringing:A telephone ringing:
Early in the history of linguistic thought, it was believed that many, if not all words, had a natural relationship to the things they described. It’s an intuitive conclusion: if you’re English, you could be forgiven for thinking of the word “ow” as being the natural, unmediated sound a human being makes when hurt. If you’re French, however, that would be “aiee”. One of the oldest versions of this argument is set out in the Platonic dialogue Cratylus. “The letter rho seems to me to be an instrument expressing all motion,” says Socrates, before listing words meaning “tremble” “flow” and “whirl” which contain the letter. But ever since de Saussure, it’s been an article of faith for linguists that the relationship between the sound and the thing it represents is arbitrary. As a result it’s easy to minimise the role onomatopoeia plays in language.Early in the history of linguistic thought, it was believed that many, if not all words, had a natural relationship to the things they described. It’s an intuitive conclusion: if you’re English, you could be forgiven for thinking of the word “ow” as being the natural, unmediated sound a human being makes when hurt. If you’re French, however, that would be “aiee”. One of the oldest versions of this argument is set out in the Platonic dialogue Cratylus. “The letter rho seems to me to be an instrument expressing all motion,” says Socrates, before listing words meaning “tremble” “flow” and “whirl” which contain the letter. But ever since de Saussure, it’s been an article of faith for linguists that the relationship between the sound and the thing it represents is arbitrary. As a result it’s easy to minimise the role onomatopoeia plays in language.
Yes, it’s marginal in terms of linguistic structure. But there’s no doubting its expressive importance. And I’m not talking about “om nom nom nom”. I’ll leave you with a translation (by Richmond Lattimore, said to capture the onomatopoeia of the original) of a section from the Odyssey, describing the blinding of Cyclops.Yes, it’s marginal in terms of linguistic structure. But there’s no doubting its expressive importance. And I’m not talking about “om nom nom nom”. I’ll leave you with a translation (by Richmond Lattimore, said to capture the onomatopoeia of the original) of a section from the Odyssey, describing the blinding of Cyclops.
The blast and scorch of the burning ball singed all his eyebrows and eyelids, and the fire made the roots of his eye crackle.The blast and scorch of the burning ball singed all his eyebrows and eyelids, and the fire made the roots of his eye crackle.
As when a man who works as a blacksmith plunges a screaming giant axe blade or adze into cold water, treating it for temper, since this is the way steel is made strong, eye even so Cyclops’ eye sizzled about the beam of the olive. As when a man who works as a blacksmith plunges a screaming giant axe blade or adze into cold water, treating it for temper, since this is the way steel is made strong, even so Cyclops’ eye sizzled about the beam of the olive.