Onomatopoeia: English vs Portuguese
In case you didn’t know, onomatopoeia is when written language attempts to imitate sounds. Words and phonemes are used to recreate naturally occurring noises.
Whilst being recreations of sounds and noises, onomatopoeias can be spelt and interpreted in different ways, depending on the language they are written in. For example, certain onomatopoeias in Portuguese and English are written differently but have the same intrinsic meanings.
Have a look at these examples!
Portuguese onomatopoeia: ‘Lero lero lero!’
English onomatopoeia: ‘Neener neener neener!’
Meaning: used to make fun of someone else, often used by children when they fell they have some kind of advantage!
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Portuguese onomatopoeia: ‘Bi Bi!’
English onomatopoeia: ‘Beep Beep!’
Meaning: car horn sound
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Portuguese onomatopoeia: ‘Piuí!’
English onomatopoeia: ‘Choo-Choo!’
Meaning: train whistle sound
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Portuguese onomatopoeia: ‘Achtim!’
English onomatopoeia: ‘Atchoo!’
Meaning: sneeze sound
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Portuguese onomatopoeia: ‘Chuá Chuá’
English onomatopoeia: ‘Splish Splash’
Meaning: sound of water being hit
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Portuguese onomatopoeia: ‘Au Au!’
English onomatopoeia: ‘Woof Woof!’
Meaning: dog’s bark
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Portuguese onomatopoeia: ‘Ai!’
English onomatopoeia: ‘Ouch!’
Meaning: to express pain
