How sound symbolism works
ⶮ 㧮䟞┺ἶ ビビỆ⩺? 㫆㣿䧞 䟊. What did you do that gives you the right to have a loud mouth? Shut up.
㩖䧂⋒Ⰲ ㏣┻㏣┻䞮┺Ṗ☚ ⌊Ṗ ṖⳊ 㧛㦚 ╁㞚⻚⩺㣪. They
whisper amongst
themselves, but whenever I appear they close their mouths. ⁎⩝Ợ 㑮ῆỆⰂ㰖 Ⱖἶ 䞲 ㌂⧢㧊 䋂Ợ 㟮₆䟊 ⽊㎎㣪.
You guys stop mumbling unintelligibly like that and have one person speak out. 㠦 ⶊ㓾 㧒㧊 㧞⋮ ⽦㣪. 㤛㎇㤛㎇䞮⍺㣪.
There must be something going on outside. People are chattering.
⁎☯㞞 㕩㡖▮ Ⱒ㦚 㭒㩞㭒㩞 ⓮㠊 ⏩▪⧒. He was releasing his pent-up complaints one after another.
⁎ ㌂⧢㦖 ⶊ㓾 Ⱒ㧊 ⁎⩝Ợ Ⱔ㦖㰖 䟃㌗ 䒂▲Ệ⩺㣪. There seem to be so many things that he’s dissatisfied about;
he grumbles all the time.
• Crying ⳿㧊 㞚䝚☚⪳ 㠟㠟 㤎㠞㠊.
I bawled so hard my throat hurt. 㞚₆Ṗ 㠊❪Ṗ 㞚䝞 㰖 䞮⬾㫛㧒 㰫㰫ỆⰆ┺.
The baby must be sick because he has been whimpering all day. Ṧ₆Ṗ ỎⰆ Ệ┞? 㤆⓪ Ệ┞? 㢲 ⁎⩝Ợ 䤢㲣䤢㲣╖┞?
Did you catch a cold? Or are you crying? Why are you sniffling? 䦧䦧, 㧊㟒₆Ṗ ⍞ⶊ 㔂䗒㣪. [literary writing]
Boo-hoo, the story is so sad. • Bodily noise
Ịṫ䟊㟒㰖. ⁎⩝Ợ ⓮ ἾἾ䟊㍲ 㠊⟷䞮┞? You should be healthy. I’m worried that you are so fragile all the time.
㰦㧊 ⍞ⶊ ⶊỗ┺ἶ ⋧⋧╖▪⧒. He was groaning, saying that the luggage was too heavy.
☛Ṧ㦒⪲ 㧒㭒㧒 ⌊⌊ ⊯⊯ 㞩㞮㠊. I was sick with the flu all week, moaning and groaning.
㞚ⶊ ◆㍲⋮ ῂ⯒ ㈷㈷ ≢ἶ ⰺ⍞Ṗ 㢚㩚䧞 ↳㧊㟒. He has no manners; he farts regardless of where he is.
ὖⰂ㧎㧊 㝿㝿ỆⰂⳆ ⥆㠊✺㠊㢪┺. The usher ran in, heaving and panting.
㏣㧊 㫖 㿲㿲䞮⍺. ⺆㠦㍲ 㴒⯊⯋ↂ⯊⯋ ㏢ⰂṖ ⋲┺. I’m sort of hungry. My stomach is grumbling.
Ṧ₆Ṗ 㡺⋮ ⽦㣪. 㞚䂾䎆 䆲⪳䆲⪳ ₆䂾㧊 ⋮㣪. I must be catching a cold. I’ve been coughing since the morning.
13.2.3 Sounds involving inanimate objects and forces
㠢㠦㍲ ⶊ㓾 ╂Ṗ┻ỆⰂ⓪ ㏢Ⰲ ⴑ ✺㠞㠊? Did you hear the rattling noise in the kitchen?
䞮⬾㫛㧒 ➆⯊⯟ ➆⯊⯟ 㩚䢪䐋㠦 㧊 ⌂㠊㣪. ‘Ring-ring,’ the phone’s been ringing off the hook all day long.
➷䞮Ⳋ ⟾㠊㰚 Ệἶ ❿☯╫䞮Ⳋ 䞿ỿ䞲 ỗ┞┺. A buzz means you’re wrong and the chime means you can advance.
⡧⡧ ⏎䋂⯒ 䞮㰖 ⁎⩝Ợ 䇛䇛 ⚦✺₆┞? ⶎ ㍲㰖Ỷ┺. Why don’t you knock instead of banging on the door? You’ll break the door down.
㓺⧓ỆⰂ㰖 Ⱖἶ ṖⰢ䧞 㫖 㞟㞚 㧞㠊. Stop shuffling around and sit still.
₆⯚㦚 Ⱔ㧊 ⍹ἶ 㕏 䓖₆Ⳋ ㌃㌃䟊㍲ ⰱ㧞㠊㣪. If you use a lot of oil and deep-fry it, then it’ll be crispy and tasty.
⁎⩝Ợ 㹸㰖Ⱖἶ Ṗ㥚⪲ ⡧⪲ 㡺⩺ ⽦.
Stop ripping it and cut it neatly with scissors. 㧦☯㹾✺㧊 䞚㣪㧊㌗㦒⪲ ニニỆⰆ┺.
The cars are honking their horns more than necessary. ⶎ㧊 㧦∎ ㋦ệỆ⩺㣪.
The door keeps squeaking. ⋾✺㧊 㞢₢⽦ 㓂㓂䞮⓪ Ệ ṯ㞚㣪.
He seems to be hushing it up in case other people find out. 㩫㎇℥ ₎⩖▮ ⲎⰂṖ 㕏⚧㕏⚧ 㧮⩺ ⋮Ṫ┺.
The hair that I put so much effort into growing was snipped off strand by strand.
⋶㝾Ṗ 㿪㤢㰖⩺⋮ ⽦㣪, ⧢㧊 㕿㕿 ⍺㣪. The weather must be getting cold. The wind is blowing hard.
㌂ὒṖ 㞚㌃㞚㌃䞮㰖 㞠ἶ 䛎㍳䛎㍳䟊㍲ ⰱ㧊 㠜┺. The apple doesn’t taste good because it’s soggy, not crunchy.
㢖⁖㢖⁖╖▮ ㏢ⰂṖ 㮦 㭓㦖 ❅㧊 ➇ ⊠㠊㪢┺. The cacophonous noise of people suddenly died down.
㞚㧊✺㧊 㧻⋲㧊 㕂䟊㍲ ⰺ㧒 㢖╏䌫䒗䌫㢖╏䌫䉋䇛 ⋲Ⰲ㡞㣪. The unruly kids are boisterously thumping around every day.
㹾㠦 㔺㠊 ⏩㞮▮ ⶒỊ✺㧊 㢖⯊⯊ ⶊ⍞㪢㠊㣪. The luggage I had stored in the car came crashing down.
゚Ṗ 㭒⬿㭒⬿ 㘵㞚㰖⓪◆ 㤆㌆☚ 㠜㧊 㠊⠑Ợ ⋮Ṗ? It’s raining cats and dogs, so how can I go out without an umbrella?
⻪㧎㦖 㧦₆ 㧮ⴑ㦚 ⒮㤆䂮Ⳇ ╃⡻ṯ㦖 ⶒ㦚 㭚㭚 䦮⪎┺. The criminal was shedding big tear drops as he lamented his past mistakes.
㔂Ⰲ䗒⯒ ⁎⩝Ợ 㰞㰞 ⊢Ⳇ ┺┞㰖 Ⱎ⧒. Stop going around dragging your slippers like that.
䞮⬾ 㫛㧒 㴚㴚 ῌ㠞▪┞ 㠦 ⾞⓪ Ợ 㠜⍺. After starving to death the whole day, I can eat just about anything.
㺆㕏䞮ἶ ➆‖ ➢Ⰲ⓪ ㏢ⰂṖ ⌂┺. There was a sound as if someone got slapped in the face.
㺆䃋 ㏢ⰂṖ ⌂⓪◆ ㌂㰚㧊 㞞 㹣䡪㠊㣪. It sounded like it took the picture, but it didn’t.
㑮㡗㧻㠦 ㌂⧢㧊 ⍞ⶊ Ⱔ㞚㍲ ⁎⌻ 㻾⻯ỆⰂ┺ 㢪㠊. There were too many people in the pool, so I just splashed around in the water.
ⶒ㧊 䇎䇎 㘵㞚㰖㰖 㞠ἶ 㹪⊪㹪⊪ ⋮㡺⍺㣪. Water
is dripping
out, not pouring out. ⍞ⶊ ㎎Ợ 䂮㰖 Ⱖἶ Ṗ⼣Ợ 䏷 Ị✲⩺ ⽦.
Don’t hit it too hard; try to softly tap it. ➛┻㠦 䎎㖿 㭒㩖㞟㞮┺.
He sat down on the ground with a plop. In the following examples, the sounds are less directly associated with the action
or state described by the sentence but still evoke some aspect of meaning for Koreans.
㤆Ⰲ☚ ⠋⠋ỆⰂἶ ㌊ ➢Ṗ 㢂 Ệ㟒. There will be a time when we can live grandly.
㌂⧢㧊 ⡧ ⩂㰖㰖 ⴑ䞮ἶ ⍞ⶊ 㤆㥶┾䞮┺. She can’t crack down and be firm; she’s too indecisive.
Ẫ ➢ⶎ㠦 ㏣㧊 ⁖⁖ ⊩㠊. I’m boiling with anger because of him.
㔲Ṛ㧊 ⍞ⶊ ザ❅䞮┺. It’s too tight; there’s not enough time.
䅊䜾䎆⧒Ⳋ ザ㌃䟊㣪. If it’s the computer, I’m fairly familiar with it.
㧊⻞ 㧒㦮 ㎇ὒ㠦 ╖䟊 Ṗ㔊㧊 ㈢❅䞿┞┺. I feel happy and satisfied about the results from the recent project.
㠊⪎㦚 ➢⓪ 㢞Ṗ┻㧊▪┞ ↗䞲 ㎇ỿ㦒⪲ ≢㠞㠊. She was boisterous when she was little, but now she is glum and introverted.
⍞⓪ ⁎ 㤇䞮⓪ ㎇ỿ㧊 ⶎ㩲㟒. The problem with you is your hot temper.