English Vocabulary

Onomatopoeia(s)

Jic�

User since 2009
Posts: 17

7 Nov. 2010

Hello every one!
Iâ€™m looking for an English onomatopoeia which could be the equivalent of the French "hic". (E.g. when someone has hiccups.)
Thanks a lot!
P.S. if it's not too much bother, I would like to know if there is a book referring to the different sounds as they are perceived.
Thanks a lot!
JC

4 comments

Jic�
User since 2009
Posts: 17
8 Nov. 2010

Many thanks to both of you: Iâ€™m delighted to see that humour is not dead ! I was probably feverish when I asked this question...
But please, be indulgent with a poor old retired, all alone in front of his computer yesterday, in that sad rainy Sunday with a heavy cold. Thinking of that, I would have been better inspired in asking "How could I translate 'Atchoum' in English". Wouldnâ€™t I? (Having said that, I had the hiccups as well) It remains an existential question...
JicÃ©.
Many thanks to both of you: Iâ€™m delighted to see that humour is not dead ! I was probably feverish when I asked this question... But please, be indulgent with a poor old retired, all alone in front of his computer yesterday, in that sad rainy Sunday with a heavy cold. Thinking of that, I would have been better inspired in asking "How could I translate 'Atchoum' in English". Wouldnâ€™t I? (Having said that, I had the hiccups as well) It remains an existential question... JicÃ©.
Jic�
User since 2009
Posts: 17
7 Nov. 2010

Hello every one!
Iâ€™m looking for an English onomatopoeia which could be the equivalent of the French "hic". (E.g. when someone has hiccups.)
Thanks a lot!
P.S. if it's not too much bother, I would like to know if there is a book referring to the different sounds as they are perceived.
Thanks a lot!
JC
Hello every one! Iâ€™m looking for an English onomatopoeia which could be the equivalent of the French "hic". (E.g. when someone has hiccups.) Thanks a lot! P.S. if it's not too much bother, I would like to know if there is a book referring to the different sounds as they are perceived. Thanks a lot! JC
AhQ ['a: kiu]
User since 2006
Posts: 2715
8 Nov. 2010

Since I read Whacky's tip, I couldn't help trying to mix the HIC and the HOC so that I am now so much exhausted by, as he said, the jerky up and down of my midriff. So much exhausted am I, so much out of breath, that I think I have just enough breath left to make it up to my death, provided that I die tonight.

Yes indeed, I know quite well my British 'tester' who is my lifepartner. Born in England from a British mother, she doesn't know much about her ancestors. Hence I cannot garantee anything about authenticity. [Poor folks indeed, that Limeys!] As she hadn't got a single cold today, I had to use a sneezing powder to make her sneeze. And she made a whacking "ACHOO" [uttered as e'tchu:]. The record of that unguaranteed achoo is at the disposal of Jicé.

Godspeed, peeps!
Since I read Whacky's tip, I couldn't help trying to mix the HIC and the HOC so that I am now so much exhausted by, as he said, the jerky up and down of my midriff. So much exhausted am I, so much out of breath, that I think I have just enough breath left to make it up to my death, provided that I die tonight. Yes indeed, I know quite well my British 'tester' who is my lifepartner. Born in England from a British mother, she doesn't know much about her ancestors. Hence I cannot garantee anything about authenticity. [Poor folks indeed, that Limeys!] As she hadn't got a single cold today, I had to use a sneezing powder to make her sneeze. And she made a whacking "ACHOO" [uttered as e'tchu:]. The record of that unguaranteed achoo is at the disposal of Jicé. Godspeed, peeps!
AhQ ['a: kiu]
User since 2006
Posts: 2715
7 Nov. 2010

Following your remark about the hiccups, I asked a British native to get the hiccups so that we could experience the sound. That pure British citizen started coughing with HIC, HIC. I learned so that coughing with HIC, HIC is in fact 'hiccoughing', a word that later in history turned 'hiccuping'. To have an attack of hiccups, that's no fun, hey JC!.

As French is my mother tongue, I also experienced the hiccups. But as French uses to have "le hoquet", I started emitting HOC, HOC, ...

What conclusion can be drawn from those experiences?
It's that 'hoquet' and 'hiccup' are both built on onomatopoeias.

I don't know if a book listing onomatopoeias has been released so far.
As you guess, I was playing the cutup by having a hiccup.
Following your remark about the hiccups, I asked a British native to get the hiccups so that we could experience the sound. That pure British citizen started coughing with HIC, HIC. I learned so that coughing with HIC, HIC is in fact 'hiccoughing', a word that later in history turned 'hiccuping'. To have an attack of hiccups, that's no fun, hey JC!. As French is my mother tongue, I also experienced the hiccups. But as French uses to have "le hoquet", I started emitting HOC, HOC, ... What conclusion can be drawn from those experiences? It's that 'hoquet' and 'hiccup' are both built on onomatopoeias. I don't know if a book listing onomatopoeias has been released so far. As you guess, I was playing the cutup by having a hiccup.

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