Onomatopoeia in Russian language
Onomatopoeia is a word(s) that imitate the sound of an item it is describing. This word is of the Greek origin ”onoma” (name) and “poio” (to create) which means “name creation”.
Onomatopoeia covers a wide range of sounds, the sounds made by animals, devices, musical instruments and so on. It’s important to be aware that in different parts of the world, the words used for the sounds are quite different
Animal Onomatopoeia - the sounds that animals make.
Here are some common Russian renderings:
- cat – miyau (мяу)
- cow – mu-u-u (му)
- horse – y-go-go (и-го-го)
- dog – hav-hav/gav-gav (гав-гав)
- pig – hrgu-hrgu (хрю-хрю)
- lion – r-r-r (р-р-р)
- bird – fiyt-fiyt (фьють- фьють)
- hen – ko-ko-ko (ко-ко-ко)
- chick – pi-pi-pi (пи-пи-пи)
- rooster – kukareku (кукареку)
- crow - kar-kar (кар-кар)
- duck - krya-krya (кря-кря)
- mouse – pi-pi-pi (пи-пи-пи)
- bee - zh-zh-zh (жжжж)
Mechanical Onomatopoeia - machine noises. Examples include: бум, бам, бух, блям, тук-тук, чух-чух, ту-ту-у-у.
Fast Motion Onomatopoeia - words that convey the sound of speed: vzheeh (вжих).
Musical Onomatopoeia - some musical onomatopoeia is associated with specific music instruments — bim-bom (бим-бом), tram-tam-tam (трам-там-там).