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sound-symbolic. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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English
Etymology
From sound symbolism + -ic.
Adjective
sound-symbolic (not comparable)
- (linguistics, phonology) characterized by sound symbolism
- Synonyms: (sometimes) expressive, imitative, mimological, phonaesthetic, phonosemantic
2025, Cid Swanenvleugel, The Pre-Roman Elements of the Sardinian Lexicon, page 198:Wagner proposes a sound-symbolic origin, after the sounds these insects make. Although this cannot be fully excluded, this word exhibits suspiciously little formal variation for a sound-symbolic formation.
- (more specifically) (of a unit of sound or meaning such as a word, morpheme, phoneme, syllable, etc.) composed of speech sounds that are not arbitrary but also not overtly onomatopoeic
"Bouba" and "Kiki" are sound-symbolic labels, not directly imitating any actual sound but nonetheless carrying strong intrinsic associations with roundness and pointiness, respectively.
Hyponyms