Book Review - Words That Go "Ping" by Barbara Lasserre

Never mind "Ping", this book made my brain go "Zoom".

I first picked up Words That Go "Ping" because I have a fondness for onomatopoeia and use it as often as seems appropriate in my writing. However Lasserre uses this concept to open up international discussion on sound symbolism.

This book reaffirms some linguistic definitions I've been away from for a while (i.e. fricatives, plosives, high and low vowels, voiced and voiceless consonants) and introduces new ones that thrill me. I came to truly appreciate the importance of reduplication (e.g. booboo) on how we represent sound in word choice, as well as the phonesthemes (e.g. the 'gli' part of glimmer, glisten, glitter etc) that recur in English.

Of course, Lasserre also makes sure other popular languages are well-represented, including French, Italian and Spanish interpretations of sonically unique words like 'hoity-toity'. She bestows a whole chapter on the peculiarities of Japanese and how nuanced their use of onomatopoeia is compared to the rest of the world. Not only this, she demonstrates the difficulty that translators face when finding a linguistically-relevant alternative to single words that carry multiple simultaneous connotations.

I could keep banging on about this fantastic book but instead I'll just wind up with a conclusive 'wow'. I recommend Words That Go "Ping" to other language nerds who obsess over cross-modal associations and bilabial articulation, particularly the ones that are most pleasing to the ear.