For you language lovers, that's called onomatopoeia.

对于语言爱好者来说，这叫做拟声词。

Your crackers aren't as onomatopoeia as I'd hoped.

你的饼干没有我希望的那种嘎吱脆声。

Professor Spence uses onomatopoeia to describe some sounds.

斯宾塞教授用拟声词来描述一些声音。

And our subject today is onomatopoeia — words that sound like the thing they describe.

我们今天的主题是拟声词——听起来像它们所描述的东西的词。

That's it Rob, yeah. That's onomatopoeia: the word sounds like the thing it means. Beep!

就是这样，罗布。这就是拟声词：这个词听起来就像它的意思。哔哔的声音！

Our subject for today is onomatopoeia. That means, words that sound like the thing they mean.

本期我们要学的是拟声词，听起来像它们所表达的意思的单词。

Onomatopoeia is when words sound like what they mean, for example 'boom', 'whack' and 'moo'.

拟声词是指单词的发音听起来像它们的意思，例如“boom”、“whack”和“moo”。

Onomatopoeia is when a word sounds like what it means, words like 'buzz', 'zoom' and 'whack'.

拟声词是指一个单词的发音与它的意思相像，如‘buzz’，‘zoom’和‘whack’。

But that's not the only example of onomatopoeia.

但这并不是拟声词的唯一例子。

Yes, you can stop now. Thank you very much. How about another quick example of onomatopoeia. A click. Listen again. Click.

是的，你现在可以停下了。非常感谢。再说个拟声词如何？单击。再听一遍。单击。

[David] That's why you would want to learn how to use assonance, alliteration, and onomatopoeia.

- [大卫] 这就是为什么你想学习如何使用谐音、头韵和象声词。

[David] And onomatopoeia, where you make a word that sounds like what the word's effect is.

- [大卫] 还有拟声词，你可以在其中创建一个单词，这听起来像是单词的效果。

A rare exception is onomatopoeia, where words representing the bark of a dog (bow-wow or Spanish's guau-guau) vaguely resemble the sound.

一个罕见的例外是象声词，其中代表狗叫的词（bow-wow 或西班牙语的 guau-guau）与声音隐约相似。

It's onomatopoeia and you can be pretty sure that  James Joyce knew he was creating a palindrome when he coined that word.

这是拟声词，你可以很确定詹姆斯·乔伊斯（James Joyce）在创造这个词时就知道他正在创造一个回文。

Yes, it does. Gargle is a great word because it's an example of what we call onomatopoeia – a word which sounds like its meaning.

是的，的确如此。漱口这个词很好，这就是我们所说的“拟声词”——单词的发音与其意思一样。

Right, OK. There are lots of examples of onomatopoeia in the English language, and we'll take a look at some of them on today's show.

好了。英语中有很多拟声词的例子，我们将在今天的节目中学到其中的一些。

The word 'purr' is a great example of onomatopoeia and refers to the constant noise which ranges in frequency between 25 and 150 hertz.

“咕噜声”这个词是拟声词的一个很好的例子，指的是频率在 25 到 150 赫兹之间的恒定噪声。

Since Ancient Greece, we've been trying to figure out why people feel that some words just sound like the thing they refer to that is, why onomatopoeias exist.

从古希腊开始，我们就一直试图弄清楚为什么人们觉得有些词听起来像他们所指的东西，那就是为什么有拟声词存在。

Other examples of onomatopoeia are sizzle - a hissing sound, and gurgle – the low pleasant sound a liquid makes when it flows quickly through a narrow space.

拟声词的其他例子还有“sizzle”——一种嘶嘶的声音，还有“gurgle”——液体在狭窄的空间中快速流动时发出的低沉悦耳之声。

Onomatopoeia is a case in point and so is sign language, which makes frequent use of gestures that resemble their referents, like tracing the tracks of tears as a symbol for crying.

拟声词就是一个很好的例子，手语也是如此，它经常使用与所指相似的手势，比如追踪眼泪的轨迹作为哭泣的象征。