Onamatopoeia refers to words that imitate the sound they describe. You might imagine they would be the same or similar in most languages, but they aren’t. Sometimes they sound the same, but are spelled differently. A sampling of French onomatopée:
English French
- Achoo Atchoum
- Bang Bang/Boum
- Bla-bla Patati-patata
- Boo (to scare) Hou
- Boo-hoo Ouin-ouin
- Boom Boum
- Brrr Brrr/ gla-gla
- Burp Rot
- Crash Boum
- Fart sound Patatras
- glug-glug Prout/pête
- gulp Glouglou
- Haha Haha/hihihi
- Honk-Honk Pouët-pouët
- Huh Hein
- Knock-knock Toc-toc
- lub-dub Bom-bom
- so-so/whatever Bof
- oops/whoops Oups
- oops-a-daisy Houp-là
- ouch/ow Aïe/ouille
- pee-yew Pouah
- phew Oouf
- shhhh Chut
- splat Ploc
- splish splash Flic flac
- splash Plouf
- tick tock Tic-tac
- ugh Pouah
- yawn Ouaaah
- yikes Zut
- yippee Youpi
- yoo-hoo Cou-cou
- yuck Beurk
- yum-yum Miam-miam
- um Euh/ ben
- zzzz Rrrrrr/Rrrron
Cynthia Tuttelman
Cynthia Tuttelman (aka "Tut") is a writer, family doctor and quilter who lives in Northern California and part-time each year in Paris, France. Follow along and explore the wonders of Paris.