Semantic Interpretation of Persian Onomatopoeic Words Based on Word Formation Patterns

The current paper aimed to conduct a corpus analysis of the relationship between Persian onomatopoeic words and their morphological meanings. All onomatopoeic words listed in The Dictionary of Onomatopoeic Words in Farsi (1996) were analyzed. The analysis of the morphological structure of 2570 onomatopoeic words suggests that there is a correlation between echo duplication and the concept of emphasizing. Partial reduplication indicates the continuance of the meaning of words. Total reduplication of words with a final plosive consonant represents the discontinuance of the meaning of onomatopoeic words. Double reduplications that use an interfix carry on the impression of friction. The reduplicated words that have fricative or affricative consonants suggest the idea of slight events. Echo duplication containing the interfix “va” constructs plurality and multitude. Contrary to the findings of previous studies, the intensity accompanies derivation and not reduplication. The data also suggests that Persian onomatopoeic words use phonetic as well as morphological tools to construe the meaning.