Talk:onomatopoeia
RFV discussion edit
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I am seeking clarification; does the term "onomatopoeia" extend to artificial sounds, such as those one hears in cartoons or films. An example of this is "spang" refering to a frying pan to the face of an unsuspecting fictional character? —This comment was unsigned.
- What do you mean by "artificial sounds"? All sounds are made through some sort of artifice. Which sense are you calling into question on the page? --EncycloPetey 19:13, 18 September 2008 (UTC)
- Perhaps this refers to written representations of such sounds, as found in comic books. I recall an amusing such cartoon where a dopey-looking character walked into a flagpole. The pole went "DUMMMBBBBB!" Funny, but it would never actually make such a sound. -- Pinkfud 04:08, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
Plural edit
It says that the plural of "onomatopoeia" is "onomatopoeias". However definition 2 states "A word which has the property of onomatopoeia". So what is the real plural, "onomatopoeia" or "onomatopoeias"? — This unsigned comment was added by 193.203.88.2 (talk) at 10:17, 28 September 2009 (UTC).
- Note the inflexion line:
onomatopoeia (countable and uncountable; plural onomatopoeias)
And then the context tags before the definitions:- (uncountable) […]
- (countable) […]
- An uncountable noun (also called a mass noun) has no plural form because it cannot be counted, whereas a countable noun (also called a count noun) does (usually) have a plural form because it can be counted. In the case of onomatopoeia, it is both countable and uncountable, depending on the sense; in English, it is very common for an uncountable noun describing a phenomenon (like (deprecated template usage) onomatopoeia) to develop a second, countable sense, defined as an example of that phenomenon (hence (deprecated template usage) an onomatopoeia). So, to answer your question, onomatopoeias (as well as onomatopoeiae, if you prefer) is the plural form of (deprecated template usage) onomatopoeia, but only in its second sense. † ﴾(u):Raifʻhār (t):Doremítzwr﴿ 06:12, 29 September 2009 (UTC)