Onomatopoeias, or words that imitate natural sounds, are an intriguing linguistic phenomenon found in all languages. The translation of onomatopoeias between languages poses unique challenges due to the lack of direct equivalents and the variation in sound representation across different languages. This article will explore some onomatopoeias in Spanish.
The unique phonological and morphological characteristics of onomatopoeias in Spanish will be discussed, providing valuable insights into the expressive capacity of these words.
Onomatopoeias in Spanish
Onomatopoeia is the imitation of a sound, an action, or sometimes an image. They are very expressive and can vary from language to language. Some are also exclamations that express an emotion and, in some cases, they will be written between exclamation marks. Let’s see some of the most common onomatopoeias in Spanish.
Crac
Estaba sentada en la rama cuando escuché un repentino crac y la rama cayó.
I was sitting on the branch when I heard a sudden crack and the branch fell.
¡Zas!
Estábamos distraídos y ¡zas! se cayó la pizarra.
We were distracted and bang! the blackboard fell.
¡Toc toc!
¡Toc toc! ¿Hay alguien en casa?
Knock, knock! Is anyone home?
Chin chin
In Spain,
Durante toda la cena, se oyó en varias ocasiones el chin chin de las copas. ¡Todo el mundo quería brindar!
During the whole dinner, the clinking of glasses was heard many times. Everybody wanted to toast!
Zzzz…
Apenas el bebé cerró los ojos, cayó en un sueño profundo. Zzzz…
As soon as the baby closed his eyes, he fell into a deep sleep. Zzzz…
Zig zag
Estaba tan mareado que caminaba en zig zag.
I was so dizzy that I was walking in zig zag.
¡Pam!
Marcos se acercó a Jorge y ¡pam! le dio un puñetazo en la cara.
Marcos approached Jorge and pow! he punched him in the face.
¡Ring! ¡ring!
Entramos en el orfanato y ¡ring! ¡ring! el teléfono no paraba de sonar.
We entered the orphanage and ring! ring! the phone wouldn’t stop ringing.
¡Boing, boing!
Al pasar por ese camino ¡boing, boing! la camioneta empezó a brincar.
When we went down that road boing, boing! the truck began to jump.
Bla, bla, bla
Marta empezó a hablar y no paraba: bla, bla, bla…
Marta started talking and she wouldn’t stop: blah, blah, blah…
Animal Sounds
Many onomatopoeias in Spanish describe animal sounds, such as:
Guau guau is the sound dogs make.Miau Miau refers to cats.Muuu is for cows.Pío pío is what birds say.Beee is a goat or sheep.
El perro hacía guau guau cada vez que pasaba alguien que no conocía.
The dog went woof woof every time someone it did not know passed by.
El gato no paró de hacer miau hasta que me levanté de la cama para ponerle comida.
The cat didn’t stop meowing until I got out of bed to give it some food.
El niño tiene dos años. Está muy gracioso diciendo cómo hacen los animales: la vaca hace muuu, el pájaro pío pío, el gato miau…
The kid is two years old. He’s very funny when he makes animal sounds: the cow goes moo, the bird goes tweet, the cat goes meow…
Pensábamos que en el campo podríamos dormir bien, pero no. A todas horas pasaban ovejas con sus beee, beee: por la mañana y por la tarde.
We thought that in the countryside we’d be able to sleep well, but we didn’t. Sheep walked around baaing at every moment: in the morning and in the afternoon.
Exercises
Let’s do some exercises to practice these onomatopoeias in Spanish.