sound-symbolic

English

Alternative forms

• sound symbolic

Etymology

From sound symbolism +‎ -ic.

Adjective

sound-symbolic (not comparable)

1. (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 [grasshoppers] make. Although this cannot be fully excluded, this word exhibits suspiciously little formal variation for a sound-symbolic formation.

   1. (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

• expressive
• ideophonic
• (non-arbitrary): onomatopoeic (see there for its synonyms)
• phonesthemic