Fifteen Eighty Four

A new book that reveals the sound-painted secrets of 124 languages.

Boom… plop! Woof! Vroom! Sound familiar? Like something out of a comic book, baby talk, or a cartoon? Not quite! These “funny little noises” are actually a serious linguistic topic – and they have a lot to tell us about how languages work, how we perceive the world, and why one culture’s “ding” might be another’s “gling-glong”. Even if you’ve never been able to pronounce “onomatopoeia,” you’ll love this ride!

What are Onomatopoeias Anyway?

Onomatopoeias are words like boom, meow, drip, shhh – they imitate real-world sounds. But don’t be fooled: they’re not just for toddlers and comic books! Every language has its own unique way of translating sound into words, and those ways are often delightfully surprising.

Did you know:

• A rooster doesn’t say the same thing around the world: in Slovak it’s kikirikí, in Japanese kokekokkó, and in Vietnamese it might be ò ó o?
• Some languages have dozens of words for different types of splashes – depending on whether the water is dripping, gushing, sprinkling, or evaporating?
• And in some languages, a special group of words doesn’t just express sounds—they also convey feelings, movements, and even states of mind?

Study Like No Other

The book is a result of a crosslinguistic research project, analyzing 124 languages from around the globe – from Slovak and Hebrew to Vietnamese, from Amazonian tongues to endangered African dialects. It explores questions like:

• How do onomatopoeias actually work?
• Why do some languages overflow with them, while others barely have any?
• Are they just “baby words” – or are they central to how we experience world?

Language as Sound-Painting

One of the book’s most delightful revelations is that onomatopoeias are like a painter’s palette for the ear – different cultures “hear” the same sound in surprisingly different ways. What does a cat, a bell, or thunder sound like to a speaker of Italian, Inuktitut, or Yoruba?

And how would YOU spell that sound?

The book also dives deep into semiotic theory –  exploring why onomatopoeias are “iconic,” meaning they sound like the things they represent. And that’s fascinating, no matter what your age is.

Who is This Book For?

• Linguists and language researchers – especially those interested in typology, phonology, morphology, or semiotics.
• Educators and language teachers, from early childhood to university level, who want to explore sound-symbolism in engaging ways.
• Writers, poets, and translators seeking to understand the expressive power of sound in different languages.
• Cognitive scientists and psychologists studying how we perceive, process, and imitate sounds.
• Students of linguistics and anthropology looking for a global, comparative perspective on language structure and creativity.
• Curious readers and language lovers who enjoy discovering unexpected linguistic treasures – like how frogs croak in Yoruba or how war sounds are mimicked in Amazonian languages.

Final Thought: The World Isn’t Just Colourful – It’s Soundful!

Sounds aren’t just the background noise of life. They’re part of its language. And if we learn to really listen (and read!), we gain a whole new way of understanding the world — and ourselves.

So tune in. This linguistic journey is going to be colourful, playful… and sometimes a little bzzzz!