16 May 2013

ZZZ...ZZZ...ZZZ...

Jenny Matlock
more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday


Did you know that zzz ... zzz ...zzz is an "onomatopoeia" (what a complicated word) !  It phonetically imitates or suggests the source of the sound that it describes.  In this case a sleeping object or subject ! Onomatopoeia  (don't make a knot in your tongue)  includes animal noises such as "oink", "meow", "roar" or "chirp". They are not the same across all languages; they conform to some extent to the broader linguistic system and they are part of.  Hence the sound of a clock may be tick tock, or tick tack, or tique taque etc. Only zzz..zzz..zzz is international and in all languages the same !



To show you some examples of "zzz" the best one is my cat Arthur.







But there are many other human examples too !

Sleep well !




15 comments:

  1. Well that's a new word for me and it is totally unpronounceable. I will stick to zzz zzz zzz and think of Arthur when I hear zzz zzz zzz.

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  2. Arthur really likes sleeping on his back. If you ask people in Asian countries what noise a cat makes, it is quite different to a cats meow as English speakers know it.

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  3. I love that word and yes I like to ZZZZZ

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  4. Your cats are so adorable!

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  5. ohmyCAt, funny post!
    I understand a lot about zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
    :D
    purrs
    Luna - WE LOVE LUNA

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  6. i LOVE this z post!! Funny photos! :-)

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  7. Would have commented sooner, but I fell asleep reading your good example of onom.....! (I do know the word, but sure can't spell it!)

    One time years ago we had some Japanese exchange students staying with us and a bunch of our kids and their friends and the guest students spent a whole evening comparing what animals said in each other's language. It was quite funny!

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  8. Gotta love those sleepy subway shots!

    =)

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  9. When my son learned the word, we spent lots of time thinking up sounds for it! I didn't know that zzz zzz was the same in all languages -- that in itself is very cool!!

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  10. Lots of fun photos and a terrific really weird word! This is a great post and hope you enjoy your weekend! Thanks for this share!

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  11. It looks like your feline "Arthur" takes his zzz(s) pretty seriously. I have a human one (DH) here who does the same!

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  12. Gattina, I plan to "catch some zzzzz's" this afternoon! Your "Z" post is just sooo clever!!

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  13. funny pictures!
    But Arthur does it best!

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  14. Cute ZZZZZ's.

    Thanks for the smile!

    I'm hoping to catch some extra ZZZZ's tonight myself.

    I think vacation wore me out!

    I admire how you can just go and go!

    Thanks for participating in Alphabe-Thursday!

    A+

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