onomatopoeia
Boom! Bang! Crash! When a word is formed from the sound that an associated thing makes, call it an example of onomatopoeia.
In Greek, onomatopoeia (on-uh-mah-tuh-PEE-ah) simply means "word-making," but in English it refers to a very specific process of word-making: an attempt to capture the sound of something. Examples of onomatopoeia in English include burble, buzz, slosh, ratatat, and thud. Words created by onomatopoeia can seem totally natural, but they can be surprisingly different from language to language: in Japanese, dogs say wan wan, but in Greek they say gav gav.
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using words that imitate the sound they denotetype of:rhetorical devicea use of language that creates a literary effect (but often without regard for literal significance)
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Vocabulary lists containing onomatopoeia
One of the stumbling blocks when trying to study poetry is that it seems like a different world. Familiar things, like words, are put to unfamiliar use, and there is an entire descriptive vocabulary that is completely foreign and quite often puzzling. This list seeks to explain the words used to describe poetry through examples from famous poems. Nassim Nicholas Taleb said, "If you want to annoy a poet, explain his poetry," but we are willing to take that risk to make the world of literary analysis a little clearer and further illuminate the mystery of poetry.
To improve your fluency in English Language Arts and Reading (ELAR), learn this academic vocabulary list that includes words selected from the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) state standards.
From alliteration to zeugma, this list covers the literary devices you need to know in order to understand and analyze poetry. To learn even more about poetry, explore our lists on Genre and Structure and Meter.