Bluebird Learns to Write

象声词归类

A list of Onomatopoeic Words

argh
bang, banged, banging
bash, bashed, bashing
bawl, bawled, bawling
beep, beeped, beeping
belch, belched, belching
blab, blabbed, blabbing
blare, blared, blaring
blurt, blurted, blurting
bonk, bonked, bonking
boo-hoo
bow-wow
bump, bumped, bumping
buzz, buzzed, buzzing
choo-choo
clang, clanged, clanging
clank, clanked, clanking
clap, clapped, clapping,
clatter, clattered, clattering
cuckoo
gurgle, gurgled, gurgling
hohoho
POP, popped, popping
roar, roared, roaring
rustle, rustled, rustling
screech, screeched, screeching
sizzle, sizzled, sizzling
thump, thumped, thumpin
whisper, whispered, whispering

babble
bang
boom
burr
buzz
chirp
chirrup
clack
clang
clatter
clipclop
clitter
crack
crash
creak
crick
crinkle
crunch
fizz
fizzle
flutter
hiss
howl
hum
jangle
jingle
murmur
patter
pop
pow
rap
ratatattat
rattle
scratch
screech
scritch
scrunch
shush
siss
sizzle
slosh
smack
sniff
snuffle
splash
splat
splatter
splosh
sputter
squawk
squeak
squish
swish
tap
thud
thwack
tinkle
twang
twitter
varoom
whack
whap
wheeze
whine
whish
whomp
whoosh
zap
zing
zip

 

 

 

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Bang－the sound of fireworks--but only on the Fourth of
July (also doors, gunfire, or any loud noise.  You can
also say, "I banged my knee on the table," meaning, "I
hit my knee on the table."

 

Bark－the sound vocalized by a medium-sized dog

Bing－the sound of the oven timer when the cookies are
done

Blippity-Blop-Blop-Ver-Slotch－－the sound of a stomach
illness (This is just a made-up word!  It's very "vivid",
but not an accepted word.  A more standard way to
describe such a situtaion woul be to say his stomach
rumbled or growled (when hungry) or gurgled .)

 

Boing－the sound of a roomful of springs

Bong－the sound of church bells on a Sunday morning.

Boom－the sound of an imploding TV vacuum tube

Braap－the sound of oral flatulence

Burble－the sound of a lidded pot brimming with boiling
water

Buzz－the sound of ten thousand bees

Clang－the sound of a hammer hitting a sheet of metal

Click－the warning sound of small firearms

Crackle－the sound of wet wood on a campfire

Crash－the imminent sound of playing baseball in the
house

Ding－the first sound of the average household’s
doorbell

Dong－the second sound of the average household’s
doorbell

Fizz－the sound of a bottle of well-shaken Coke

Goosh－the sound of Hoover Dam busting open

Gurgle－the last sound water makes before going down the
drain

Huff－the sound Chubby makes when we punch him in the
stomach

Hiss－the sound of snakes or tires that are losing air
(neither of which is good)

Hum－the sound of the radiator in the library

Ka-blam－the sound of an exploding grenade
Kerplunk－the sound of a wrench being dropped into a
water-filled basin

Lub-dub－the sound that the heart makes according to
anatomy textbooks

Meow－the sound of a real cat

Moo－the sound of a stereotypical cow

Murmur－the sound heard around the workplace on "the
day after"

Ping－the sound of a crescent wrench hitting a cement
floor

Purr－the sound of a very happy cat or well-groomed
automobile

Ring－the sound of kids on bicycles riding towards the
ice cream truck

Szhoom－the sound of a light saber cutting through the
air (made up)

Splash－the sound of the bow breaking through the waves
(when playing with kids in a pool:"Don't splash your
brother!"  Not always onomatopeic.)

 

Squeak－the incessant sound pouring out from my

roommate's chair

Thud－the sound of a lead brick smashing the Earth

Thwap－the sound of skin on skin

Tick－the sound of the Grandfather clock when the
pendulum is on the left

Tock－the sound of the Grandfather clock when the
pendulum is on the right

Whirr－the sound of an electric can opener that has seen
better days

Whiz－the sound of a 60-mph baseball three inches from
your head

Woosh－the sound that every flying superhero makes on
takeoff

Wop－the sound of a wet rag thrown onto a greasy counter
top

Yip－the sound of a small annoying dog

 

More Onomatopoeic words:

 

splash, knock, roar, whinnying, bong, hiss, buzz, pow,
bang, cluck thump, pop, splashy, wow, kerplunk, gush,

tinkle, smash, growl, crunch, click, sizzle, clattered, clanged,

rattle, baa, babble, clip, whinny, clunk, ring, swish, swoosh,

clank, whine, wheeze, wheezy, clop, squish, zip woof, slurp,

clap, tick tock, drip, scratch, clippety-clop, cock-a-doodle-do,

flip-flop, fizz, cuckoo, ding dong, boom, beep, rip, boo-hoo,

choo-choo, bow-wow, argh, ouch, belch, blab, blare, bleat,

thud, screech, bark abuzz, bleep, bray, crack, creak, croak,

crow, murmur, pit-pat, sob spatter, splutter, squeak, varoom,

clickety clack, yippity yap clink, clank, woof, crash, munch, hic,

purr, meow, burp, hiss, squeal screech, crackle, zowie,
rustling, click, clack

 

My friend's notes:

 

These are the most common.  Such words are more often
used in spoken conversation to describe a sound one has
heard or, in the case of animal calls, we might make
such noises when talking about animals.  For example, if
you are helping yourself to your third bowl of ice cream
for the evening and I want to jokingly imply that you
are eating like a pig, I might say, "oink! oink!"  If
you said this to a girl, however, you might really piss
her off.  Sometimes, when two women get into an argument,
bystanders might say, "hiss! hiss!" or make some other
cat-like noise, including "meow", to imply that the
girls are being "catty" which means being quarrelsome or
"bitchy".  It's only used for girls.

 
Two hot women fighting is called a "cat fight."  Note: 
all cat-related terms are offensive to women, although
many women like to use Cat or Kitty for nick names and
some men will call their daughters or wives "kitten,"
which means, "little darling."  We refer to unattractive
women as "dogs," so men might make barking noises at a
woman, such as "woof-woof," to imply that she is ugly. 
"Bow-wow!" however, is a very slangy way of implying
that a woman is sexy and the man would like to sleep
with her.  It is something that woman would still find
offensive and it is the kind of language that street
hoodlums, as opposed to other people, would use.
 
Most onomatopeia, when used in writting, has a childish
sound to it and is not considered very eloquent or poetic.
 We will use words like screech, hiss, whistle, bang,
boom, slam, squish, splash, roar, growl, hoot, crash,
shreik, clang most often in normal, written language.
 
For example, "There was a loud boom/bang/clang/crash/

slam/smash/whistle/shriek/screech/scream/squish/roar/

growl/hiss in the kitchen."  This is not considered childish

or too slangy.  Crash and bang are the most common words

for refering to loud sounds. 

The other words are pretty specific to certain sounds,
for example whistle and squish. Generally, any piece of
writing that uses too much onomatopeia sounds a little
childish.  As for how to use onomatpoeia in writing, the
most basic rule is :these words used as nouns are all
replacements for two words, "sound" and "noise." 
 
Other information onomatopoeic words in literary usage:

http://www.coastnews.com/huck1018.htm

http://www.lovetolearnplace.com/Curriculum/Literary/Onomatopoeia.html