In March 2010, the Oxford English Dictionary added the word arf to its official English word listing, as an interjection meaning “the sound of a dog’s bark, or a human imitating a dog’s bark.” Arf and woof (and meow and moo) are words that sound like the noises they’re describing. Using a word because it sounds like the noise being described is called onomatopoeia. This word comes from the Greek roots onoma, or ‘name’ (remember this root from our discussions of homonyms and antonyms?) and poieo, meaning ‘to make, to produce.’ A snake makes a sound like sssssss – the English word hiss creates the same sound.

You might think of onomatopoeia as splashes of color that you use to make your speech more interesting. Using these descriptive and poetic words will add a new dimension to your conversation, and will attract people to listen to your presentations. Because these words relate to sound, and rely upon sound to convey their meaning, they’re most effective when used in spoken communication. In addition, many onomatopoeic words are interjections (poof! bam! whew! ssh!) that are more suited to casual chatter than formal discourse, and aren’t as appropriate for written documents.

Here are four interesting onomatopoeic words that you can use in any circumstance:

burble
Definition: a bubbling sound, like water in a fountain, or a stream flowing over stones
Example: The waiting room in the dentist’s office has a tabletop fountain in the corner; its soothing burble helps to keep the patients calm.

pitter-patter
Definition: a soft, rhythmic sound
Example: I woke up this morning to the pitter-patter of raindrops on the skylight above my bed.

guffaw
Definition: a loud, hearty laugh
Example: There must have been a comedy playing at the theatre tonight, because we could hear the guffaws of the audience as we walked by.

susurrus
Definition: a rustling sound
Example: The only noise in the town hall was the susurrus of the audience’s excited whispers as they waited for the President to appear.

An interesting thing about onomatopoeia is how it differs between languages. In English, we use the word arf or woof to describe a dog’s bark. But like people, animals speak different languages in different countries!

• If you’re in France, a dog says ouah ouah.
• In Japan, a dog cries wan wan.
• Dogs in Turkey yell hov hov.

What other onomatopoeic words can you think of?