69 Spanish Words That Imitate Life in a Onomatopoeic Way

Onomatopoeia, or onomatopeya in Spanish, is the formation or use of words that are imitative or intended to sound like what they represent. A good example of this is the word "click" in English, which formed to imitate a clicking sound. Its Spanish equivalent is the noun spelled clic, which became the stem of the verb cliquear, "to click a mouse."

Onomatopoeia is not the same for all languages because native speakers interpret each sound their own way and may form words differently. For example, the onomatopoeic sound for a frog differs greatly across cultures. The croak of a frog is coa-coa in French, gae-gool-gae-gool in Korean, ¡berp! in Argentinian Spanish, and "ribbit" in the United States. "Croak" itself in an example of onomatopoeia.

In some cases, imitative words have evolved over the centuries to the point where the onomatopoeic nature of the word is no longer obvious. For example, both the English "touch" and the Spanish tocar probably came from an imitative Latin root word.

How to Use Onomatopoeic Words

Sometimes onomatopoeic words are interjections, words that stand alone rather than as part of a standard sentence. Also, interjections can be used when imitating an animal, like a cow's sound, which in Spanish is spelled mu.

Onomatopoeic words can also be used or modified to form other parts of speech, such as the word clic or the Spanish verb zapear, coming from the onomatopoeic word zap.

Spanish Onomatopoeic Words

In English, common onomatopoeic words include "bark," "snort," "burp," "hiss," "swish," and "buzz." What follows are several dozen Spanish onomatopoeic words in use. Spelling is not always standardized.

Key Takeaways

• Onomatopoeia involves the use or formation of words that imitate the sound of something.
• Words that imitate the same sound sometimes seem to have little in common in different languages.
• Meanings of onomatopoeic words can change over time so that the imitative origins of words are no longer obvious.