Onomatopoeic versus echomimetic

In a Reddit thread about how to spell lightsaber sounds (Star Wars), user Takai_Sensei posts an interesting comment about the difference between onomatopoeic and echomimetic:

Quote:

"Snap-hiss" is what we would think of as a standard onomatopoeia: a word that represents and imitates a sound. This is in the same category as "meow" and "whoosh." They conform to some standard spelling rules and are used grammatically like words are.

But things like "bwwwwoooggzzhhheee" and "BIZZOWWWWww," while still onomatopoeic, are more on the echomimetic side of things. This is more like using letters to transcribe exactly what you hear as close as possible.

Both are "onomatopoeia," sound words, but they are slightly different.

How would you spell the noise a lightsaber makes?

How would you spell the noise a lightsaber makes?

New concept: Anti-onomatopoeia!

"If onomatopoeia is a word that sounds like or suggests its definition, then anti-onomatopoeia is a word that seems to suggest upon hearing something completely opposite to its actual definition." Reddit user wingedwombat comes up with a nice new concept. Read the original post and comments for possible candidates of anti-onomatopoeia including pulchritude, chlamydia and rubella.

If two people say the word 'simultaneous' ...

... does that make it an onomatopoeia?

Reddit


My two cents: I think user 'mtwstr' is correct, that the answer is no, because it's only onomatopoeia if the word itself imitates sound.

The name Pac-Man is inspired by onomatopoeia

UberFacts on Twitter:

"Pac-Man's name was inspired by the Japanese onomatopoeia "pakku-pakku," which sounds like someone opening and closing their mouth"