February 01, 2008

Onomatopoeia

We have two words here, developed by Angie, that effectively describe some common sounds. The first, "fwoop" is used to describe the sound one makes when sucking air suddenly between pursed lips, as when sucking in a fly-away kiss blown to you by a loving parent.

The second, which is harder to spell so that you get the full effect of its pronunciation, is "chyoop", where the Ch is pronounced the way Jewish people pronounce it in Chanukkah, sort of a back-of-the-throat sound. This is the sound dogs make when licking you, or the sound a child makes when licking a lollypop.

Both words are verbs, however.
"Is the doggie gonna chyoop me, Mommy?" or
"Did the baby fwoop my kiss?"

Or they can be used as nouns:
"Mommy, did you hear that chyoop?"

If you are not familiar with these terms, it can be awefully difficult to understand what Angie is saying sometimes. I'm always impressed with her ability to learn (and create) new words!