Cover not available
Part of
Ideophones, Mimetics and Expressives
Edited by Kimi Akita and Prashant Pardeshi
[Iconicity in Language and Literature 16] 2019
► pp. 137–166

Chapter 6
Towards a semantic typological classification of motion ideophones

The motion semantic grid

| Universidad de Zaragoza

Motion ideophones are ubiquitous across languages. They expressively enact the way a motion event takes place. The main goal of this chapter is to offer a working proposal to classify motion ideophones from a semantic typological perspective. After a description of motion ideophones, the semantic grid for motion ideophones is presented. This consists of 7 first-level components plus 26 second-level and 121 third-level sub-components. The second part comprises two studies: a first-level analysis of 453 Basque motion ideophones and a fine-grained subcomponent analysis on a selection of 186 motion ideophones from 16 genetically and geographically different languages. The last section discusses the usefulness and applicability of this type of semantic typological classifications.

Article outline
  • 1.Motion ideophones across languages
  • 2.Motion semantic grid
  • 3.Motion semantic grid into practice
    • 3.1First-level semantic components in Basque ideophones
    • 3.2All-level semantic components for ideophones across languages
  • 4.Conclusions: Motion ideophones from a semantic typological perspective
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
  • Appendix
Published online: 6 May 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ill.16.07iba
References (71)
Akita, Kimi
2009 A grammar of sound-symbolic words in Japanese: Theoretical approaches to iconic and lexical properties of mimetics. Ph.D. dissertation, Kobe University.
Alpher, B.
1994 Yir-Yoront ideophones. In Sound Symbolism, L. Hinton, J. Nichols and J. J. Ohala (eds), 161–177. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
2001 Ideophones in interaction with intonation and the expression of new information in some indigenous languages of Australia. In Ideophones, F. K. E. Voeltz and C. Kilian-Hatz (eds), 9–24. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Barrett, R.
2014 Ideophones and (non-)arbitrariness in the K’iche’ poetry of Humberto Ak’abal. Pragmatics and Society 5: 406–418. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Beck, D.
2008 Ideophones, adverbs, and predicate qualification in Upper Necaxa Totonac. International Journal of American Linguistics 74: 1–46. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Binnick, R. I.
2012 The Oxford Handbook of Tense and Aspect. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Boas, H. C.
2008 Towards a frame-constructional approach to verb classification. Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses 57: 17–47.Google Scholar
Bradshaw, J.
2006 Grammatically marked ideophones in Numbami and Jabêm. Oceanic Linguistics 45: 53–63. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Casas-Tost, H.
2012 Translating onomatopoeia from Chinese into Spanish: A corpus-based analysis. Perspectives 22: 39–55. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Childs, G. T.
2001 Research on ideophones, whither hence?: The need for a social theory of ideophones. In Ideophones, F. K. E. Voeltz and C. Kilian-Hatz (eds), 63–73. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cifuentes-Férez, P.
2010 The semantics of the English and the Spanish motion verb lexicons. Review of Cognitive Linguistics 8: 233–271. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Clark, H. H.
2016 Depicting as a method of communication. Psychological Review 123: 324–347. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Comrie, B.
1976 Aspect: An Introduction to the Study of Verbal Aspect and Related Problems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Dhoorre, C. S. and Tosco, M.
1998 Somali ideophones. Journal of African Cultural Studies 11: 125–156. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Diffloth, G.
1972 Notes on expressive meaning. Chicago Linguistic Society 8: 440–447.Google Scholar
1976 Expressives in Semai. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications 13: 249–264.Google Scholar
Dingemanse, M.
2011 The meaning and use of ideophones in Siwu. Ph.D. dissertation, Rabound University Nijmegen.
2012 Advances in the cross-linguistic study of ideophones. Language and Linguistics Compass 6: 654–672. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2013 Ideophones and gesture in everyday speech. Gesture 13: 143–165. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2017 Expressiveness and system integration: On the typology of ideophones, with special reference to Siwu. STUF – Language Typology and Universals 70: 363–384. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2018 Redrawing the margins of language: Lessons from research on ideophones. Glossa: A Journal of General Linguistics 3: 1–30. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Egbokahre, F. O.
2001 Phonosemantic correspondences in Emai attributive ideophones. In Ideophones, F. K. E. Voeltz and C. Kilian-Hatz (eds), 87–96. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Emeneau, M. B.
1969 Onomatopoetics in the Indian linguistic area. Language 45: 274–299. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Espinal, Mª T.
2006 Diccionari de sinònims de frases fetes. Barcelona and València: UAM/UV.Google Scholar
García de Diego, V.
1968 Diccionario de voces naturales. Madrid: Aguilar.Google Scholar
Gasca, L. and Gubern, R.
2008 Diccionario de onomatopeyas del cómic. Madrid: Cátedra.Google Scholar
Hamano, S.
1998 The Sound-Symbolic System of Japanese. Stanford: CSLI.Google Scholar
Harrison, K. D.
2004 South Siberian sound symbolism. In Languages and Prehistory of Central Siberia, E. Vajda (ed.), 197–211. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hatton, S. A.
2016 The onomatopoeic ideophone-gesture relationship in Pastaza Quichua. Ph.D. dissertation, Brigham Young University.
Hinton, L., Nichols, J. and Ohala, J. J.
(eds) 1994 Sound Symbolism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ibarretxe-Antuñano, I.
2006 Sound Symbolism and Motion in Basque. Munich: Lincom Europa.Google Scholar
2017 Basque ideophones from a typological perspective. Canadian Journal of Linguistics 62: 196–220. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Iwasaki, N., Sells, P. and Akita, K.
(eds) 2017 The Grammar of Japanese Mimetics: Perspectives from Structure, Acquisition, and Translation. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Jawad, H. A.
2010 Sound symbolism, schemes and literary translation. Babel 56: 47–63. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kakehi, H., Tamori, I. and Schourup, L. C.
1996 Dictionary of Iconic Expressions in Japanese. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Katsuki-Pestemer, N.
2014 An Introduction to Japanese Ideophones. München: Lincom Europa.Google Scholar
Kita, S.
1997 Two-dimensional semantic analysis of Japanese mimetics. Linguistics 35: 379–415. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kilian-Hatz, C.
1999 Ideophone: Eine typologische Untersuchung unter besonderer Berücksichtigung afrikanischer Sprachen. Habilitationsschrift, Universität zu Köln.
Klamer, M.
2001 Expressives and iconicity in the lexicon. In Ideophones, F. K. E. Voeltz and C. Kilian-Hatz (eds), 165–181. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kloe, D. R.
1977 A Dictionary of Onomatopoeic Sounds, Tones and Noises in English and Spanish. Detroit, MI: Blaine Ethridge Books.Google Scholar
Kulemeka, A. T.
1993 The status of the ideophone in Chichewa. Ph.D. dissertation, Indiana University.
1995 Sound symbolic and grammatical frameworks: A typology of ideophones in Asian and African languages. South African Journal of African Languages/Suid-Afrikaanse Tydskrif Vir Afrikatale 15: 73–84. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lahaussois, A.
2017 Ideophones in Khaling Rai. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 40: 179–201. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lhati, K.
2014 Ideophones in Vladimir Mayakovsky’s work. Pragmatics and Society 5: 419–430. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Masubelele, M. R.
2018 Are ideophones translatable? The case of translating isiZulu ideophones in DBZ Ntuli’s short story Uthingo Lwenkosazana (The Rainbow). Literator 39: a1408. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mihas, E. I.
2012 Ideophones in Alto Perené (Arawak) from Eastern Peru. Studies in Language 36: 300–344. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mikone, E.
2001 Ideophones in the Balto-Finnic languages. In Ideophones, F. K. E. Voeltz and C. Kilian-Hatz (eds), 223–233. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mitxelena, K.
1985–2005 Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia. Bilbo: Euskaltzaindia. [URL]
Moshi, L.
1993 Ideophones in KiVunjo-Chaga. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 3: 185–216. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Msimang, C. T.
1987 Impact of Zulu on Tsotsitaal. South African Journal of African Languages 7: 82–86. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Nakagawa, H.
2011 A first report on Gǀui ideophones. In Geographical Typology and Linguistic Areas: With Special Reference to Africa, O. Hieda, C. König and H. Nakagawa (eds), 279–286. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Noss, P. A.
1985 The ideophone in Bible translation: Child or stepchild. The Bible Translator 36: 423–430. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
1999 The ideophone: A dilemma for translation and translation theory. In New Dimensions in African Linguistics and Languages, P. F. A. Kotey (ed.), 261–272. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.Google Scholar
2003 Translating the ideophone: Perspectives and strategies of translators and artists. In The Creative Circle: Artist, Critic, and Translator in African Literature, A. E. Overvold, R. Priebe and L. Tremain (eds), 40–58. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.Google Scholar
Nuckolls, J. B.
2001 Ideophones in Pastaza Quechua. In Ideophones, F. K. E. Voeltz and C. Kilian-Hatz (eds), 271–285. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2010 The sound-symbolic expression of animacy in Amazonian Ecuador. Diversity 2: 353–369. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2014 Ideophones’ challenges for typological linguistics: The case of Pastaza Quichua. Pragmatics and Society 5: 355–383. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Okoye, A. N. and Egenti, M. C.
2015 On Etulo ideophones. IIOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science 20: 56–59.Google Scholar
Pischedda, P.
2017 Anglophonic influence in the use of sound symbolism in Italian Disney comics: A corpus-based analysis. Open Linguistics 3: 591–612. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Pogacar, R., Pisanski Peterlin, A., Pokorn, N. K. and Pogačar, T.
2017 Sound symbolism in translation. A case study of character names in Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist . Translation and Interpreting Studies 12: 137–161. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rácová, A.
2014 Ideophones in Bengali. Asian and African Studies 23: 1–36.Google Scholar
Riera-Eures, M. and Sanjaume, M.
2010 Diccionari d’onomatopeies i altres interjeccions. Barcelona: Eumo.Google Scholar
Samarin, W. J.
1970 Inventory and choice in expressive language. Word 26: 153–169. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Smoll, L.
2014 Ideophones in Katuena (Tunayaga): A Cariban Language of the Amazon Basin. Saarbrucken: Lambert Academic Publishing.Google Scholar
Talmy, L.
2000 Toward a Cognitive Semantics. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Teilanyo, D. I.
2010 Translating African ideophones. Perspectives. Studies in Translation Theory and Practice 9: 215–231. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Toratani, K.
2012 The role of sound-symbolic forms in motion event descriptions. Review of Cognitive Linguistics 10: 90–132. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Tufvesson, S.
2011 Analogy-making in the Semai sensory world. The Senses & Society 6: 86–95. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Voeltz, F. K. E. and Kilian-Hatz, C.
(eds) 2001 Ideophones. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Webster, A. K.
2014 Rex Lee Jim’s ‘Mouse that Sucked’: On iconicity, interwoven-ness, and ideophones. Pragmatics and Society 5: 431–444. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (3)

Cited by 3 other publications

Menete, Sérgio N. & Guiying Jiang
2024. Another member out of the family: the description of manner of gait in Changana verbs of motion. Folia Linguistica 0:0 DOI logo
McLean, Bonnie
2021. Revising an implicational hierarchy for the meanings of ideophones, with special reference to Japonic. Linguistic Typology 25:3 ► pp. 507 ff. DOI logo
Akita, Kimi
2020. Modality-specificity of iconicity. In Operationalizing Iconicity [Iconicity in Language and Literature, 17], ► pp. 4 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 4 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.