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This study will discuss onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is an imitation of the natural sound of things that formed into words. Onomatopoeia is imitative of non-linguistic sounds (Langacker, 1973: 25). There are a lot of researchers who do their research on onomatopoeia, but it is still limited numbers of researchers who do their onomatopoeia research analyzing kid songs. The concept of onomatopoeia sometimes was difficult to be understood without examples, because examples make readers easier to understand about onomatopoeia word. This study is related to previous research of(Amrullah Nur Hidayat, The Onomatopoeia in Robert Venditti's comic “The Flash”, 2016 and Siti Roudlotul Jannah, A Study of Onomatopoeia in Doraemon comic series, 2016).
The writer will try to analyze the onomatopoeia in kid songs because apparently, people do not always notice that some words came from the natural sound of things. This study used Qualitative approaches, to begin with. This approach is chosen to define the onomatopoeia word in kid songs by their lexical meaning. The data was collected on the website that listed all the most famous kid songs in Indonesia and English.
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Nine kid songs that analyzed in this study, the writer found 16 onomatopoeia. These onomatopoeiae include six animal sounds, seven sound of things, and three sound that human makes.
This study will discuss onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is an imitation of the natural sound of things that formed into words. Onomatopoeia is imitative of non-linguistic sounds (Langacker, 1973: 25). Onomatopoeia is the soundless thing as well as an abstract concept in our world that could have been referred to in a language that simply echoed natural sound (Yule, 2010: 3).
Onomatopoeia is also used unintentionally for some people. Like the word “Meow”, this word has a lexical meaning that the sound of a cat. Also, the word “Rattle” that commonly used in comics to give an impression of a sound to a series of quickly repeated knocks.
There are a lot of researchers who do their research on onomatopoeia, but it is still limited numbers of researchers who do their onomatopoeia research analyzing kid songs. Many researchers do their research on the same object, such as comics, fiction books, or short stories. The concept of onomatopoeia sometimes was difficult to be understood without examples, because examples make readers easier to understand about onomatopoeia word. It helps the reader to illustrate the sounds of the words that they pronounce.
Regarding the fact that many others researchers do their research on the object like comic, this study related from previous research of(Amrullah Nur Hidayat, The Onomatopoeia in Robert Venditti's comic “The Flash”, 2016 and Siti Roudlotul Jannah, A Study of Onomatopoeia in Doraemon comic series, 2016), but with a different object, this study will discuss the onomatopoeia in kid songs. The writer will try to analyze the onomatopoeia in kid songs because apparently, people do not always notice that some words came from the natural sound of things. In this study, the writer will give examples about onomatopoeia especially in kid songs. Kid songs were chosen to be the object simply because so many kid songs used onomatopoeia.
Many kid songs used onomatopoeia to give more attention and relation between the lyrics and the melody so the kids will sing along. Usually, kid songs used onomatopoeia to imitate the certain sounds like animal sounds, sound from things, or even the sounds that human makes. (Dofs, 2008: 4) Defines onomatopoeia as a form of sound named by its object that imitates the natural sound in producing. For example, the song called “Old McDonald Had a Farm”, in this song so many onomatopoeiae used to represent the animal sounds like a horse, cow, pig, and sheep and formed those sounds into a word that has meaning. Kid songs that are used in this study are from Indonesian kid songs and English kid songs. The reason why the writer chooses the kid songs from Indonesia and English is to give more examples in this particular subject. The writer will try to find out all the onomatopoeia in kid songs and defines them in lexical meaning. The writer also hopes this study will increase the knowledge about onomatopoeia, especially onomatopoeia in kid songs.
This study used Qualitative descriptive approaches, to begin with. Qualitative research is a means for exploring and understanding the meaning of individuals or groups ascribe to the social or human problem (Creswell, 2009: 8). This approach is chosen to define the onomatopoeia word in kid songs by their lexical meaning. Kid songs as data. The data was collected on the website that listed all the most famous kid songs in Indonesia and English. After data is collected on the website, data is analyzed by their lexical meaning.
The data collected on the website and article include all the most famous kid songs in Indonesia and English. Kid songs in both languages (Indonesian and English) have the similarity with using the onomatopoeia. These songs make the writer realize those kid songs used so much onomatopoeia and make a good impression of the certain sound of things.
The writer analyzed all the onomatopoeia in kid songs by their lexical meaning. The lexical meaning is used to define onomatopoeia in kid songs. From the data, the writer found that there are so many onomatopoeiae on these kid songs.
Data #1 Baa Baa Black Sheep
The first data is the song called “Baa baa Black sheep”. This data used to be the object in this study because onomatopoeia occurs even in the title. This song also makes an impression that onomatopoeia is often used in kid songs. The appearance of the word “Baa baa” on the title made the writer really interest to used this data.
Baa, baa black sheep
Have you any wool
Yes sir, yes sir
Three bags full.
One for my master
And one for my dame
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.
In this song the word “Baa” is onomatopoeia. The word “Baa” represents the sound of the black sheep. “Baa” by lexical meaning, according to Cambridge dictionary is “the sound that a sheep and goat makes.”
Data #2 Old MacDonald Had a Farm
This second data is used by the writer because not only is this song all about farm animals that make a certain sound. Also, this data has a lot of references for farm animals, so it can give more examples of onomatopoeia in kid songs especially animal sounds.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O,
And on his farm, he had a cow, E I E I O.
With a moo-moo here and a moo moo there,
Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo moo.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O,
And on his farm he had a pig, E I E I O.
With an oink oink here and an oink there,
Here an oink, there an oink, everywhere an oink.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O,
And on his farm, he had a duck, E I E I O.
With a quack quack here And a quack quack there,
Here a quack, there a quack, everywhere a quack.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O,
And on his farm he had a horse, E I E I O.
With a neigh here And a neigh neigh there,
Here a neigh, there a neigh, everywhere a neigh.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O.
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O,
And on his farm, he had some sheep, E I E I O.
With a baa baa here and a baa baa there,
Here a baa, there baa everywhere a baa baa
Old MacDonald had a farm, E I E I O.
The first lyrics in this song, the word “Moo” is onomatopoeia. This word imitates a certain sound made by a cow. According to the Cambridge dictionary, “Moo” means “the sound that a cow makes.”
The second lyric in this song, the word “Oink” is onomatopoeia. This word imitates a certain sound made by a pig. According to the Cambridge dictionary, “Oink” means “(especially in children’s book) used in writing to represent the noise that a pig makes.”
The third lyric in this song, the word “Quack” is onomatopoeia. This word imitates a certain sound made by a duck. According to the Cambridge dictionary, “Quack” means “to make the usual sound of a duck.”
The fourth lyric in this song, the word “Neigh” is onomatopoeia. This word imitates a certain sound made by a horse. According to the Cambridge dictionary, “Neigh” means “a loud, loud, high call that is produced by a horse when it is excited or frightened.”
In the last lyrics in this song, the word “Baa” is onomatopoeia. Same as the first data. The word “Baa” represents sound of a sheep. “Baa” by lexical meaning, According to Cambridge dictionary is “the sound that a sheep and goat makes.”
Data #3 Ring around the Rosie
A different reason why the writer used this song as data in this study. This song makes an appearance about a certain noise that comes naturally from the human. This data used to give an example that human can make a natural sound and formed into words that has meaning.
Ring around the Rosie,
A pocket full of posies,
Atishoo, Atishoo,
We all fall!
The cows are in the meadow
Eating buttercup
Atishoo, Atishoo,
We all jump up!
In this song, the word “Atishoo” is onomatopoeia. This word imitates a certain sound when someone sneezes. “Atishoo” in the Cambridge dictionary also has the same meaning, “Atishoo” means “used, especially in writing, to represent the sound of a sneeze.”
Data #4 The Wheels on the Bus
The writer used this data because in this song the appearance of onomatopoeia is a little bit more complex than the others. This song mixed the certain noise from different things, such as the sound of wipers, horns, a baby, and a mom.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
Round and round, Round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
All through the town.
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish,
Swish, swish, swish.
Swish, swish, swish.
The wipers on the bus go swish, swish, swish,
All through the town.
The doors on the bus go open and shut,
Open and shut, open and shut
The doors on the bus go open and shut,
All through the town
The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep,
Beep, beep, beep.
Beep, beep, beep.
The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep,
All through the town.
The people on the bus go up and down,
Up and down,
Up and down.
The people on the bus go up and down,
All through the town.
The baby on the bus goes “Wah, wah, wah”,
“Wah, wah, wah”,
“Wah, wah, wah”.
The baby on the bus goes “Wah, wah, wah”.
All through the town.
The mummy’s on the bus go “Shh, shh, shh”,
“Shh, shh, shh”,
“Shh, shh, shh”.
The mummy’s on the bus go “Shh, shh, shh”.
All through the town.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
Round and round,
Round and round.
The wheels on the bus go round and round,
All through the town.
In the first lyrics, the word “Swish” is onomatopoeia. This word in this song represents the certain sound made by wipers. According to the Cambridge dictionary, this word means “to (cause to) move quickly through the air making a soft sound.”
The second lyric which is the word “Beep” is onomatopoeia. This word has meant that represents the sound of the horn on the bus. In the Cambridge dictionary, this word means “(to cause) to make a short, loud sound.”
The next lyric “Wah-wah” is an onomatopoeia that represents the sound that the baby makes. This word according to the Cambridge dictionary means “a way of changing the sound of notes played on an electric guitar, trumpet, or trombone to make them sound like a human voice saying 'wah', or a device that produces this effect.”
The last lyric is “Shh”. This word is onomatopoeia. “Shh” is represent the sound that human makes, but actually the “Shh” in Cambridge means “Sh”. So, this word not really has a lexical meaning. It’s standing on its own.
Data #5 Sepeda
Kring.. kring.. kring.. suara sepeda
Sepedaku roda dua
Kudapat dari ayah
Karena rajin belajar
Tuk.. tuk..tuk... suara sepatu
Sepatuku kulit lembu
Kudapat dari ibu
Karena rajin membantu
This next song, all about the sound that is made by the natural sound of things like the bell from bicycle and shoes.
The word “Kring” in this song is onomatopoeia. According to KBBI, this word means “tiruan bunyi bel (pada sepeda, telephone, dan sebagainya)” or in English means “imitate the sound of the bell (on a bicycle, telephone, etc).”
The word “Tuk” in this song is onomatopoeia. According to KBBI, this word means “tiruan bunyi pintu atau sebagainya diketuk.” or in English means “the imitate from the sound of door or else being knocked.”
Data #6 Tik tik bunyi hujan
This song has the similarity with the previous song that the onomatopoeia appeared in the title. The title “Tik tik bunyi hujan” gives the impression of the meaning itself.
Tik...tik.. tik.. bunyi hujan diatas genteng
Airnya turun tidak terkira
Cobalah tengok dahan dan ranting
Pohon dan kebun basah semua
The word “Tik” in this song is onomatopoeia. According ti KBBI, this word means “tiruan bunyi detik arloji, hujan, dan sebagainya.” Or in english means “the imitate sound of watch, rain, etc.”
Data #7 Balonku
Balonku ada lima
Rupa rupa warnanya
Hijau, kuning, kelabu
Merah muda dan biru
Meletus balon hijau ... Dor
Hatiku sangat kacau
Balonku tinggal empat
Kupegang erat-erat
In this song, the word “Dor” is onomatopoeia. According to KBBI, this word means “tiruan bunyi letusan senapan” or in English means “imitate sound of riffle exposition.”
Data #8 Burung hantu
Matahari terbenam
Hari mulai malam
Terdengar burung hantu
Suaranya merdu
Kukuk.. kukuk.. kukuk..
Kukuk.. kukuk.. kukuk..
In this song, the word “Kukuk” is onomatopoeia. According to KBBI, this word means “Kata tidak baku dari kokok” “kokok” means “tiruan bunyi suara ayam jantan.” Or in English means “imitate the sound of rooster.”
Data #9 Naik delman
Pada hari minggu kuturut ayah kekota
Naik delman istimewa ku duduk dimuka
Ku duduk samping pak kusir yang sedang bekerja
Mengendarai kuda supaya baik jalannya
Tuk tik tak tik tuk tik.. suara sepatu kuda
Tuk tik tak tik tuk tik.. suara sepatu kuda
This song has a lot of words of onomatopoeia in it. For example, the word “Tuk” by lexical meaning, according to KBBI means “tiruan suara bunyi pintu dan sebagainya diketuk.” The word “Tik” means “tiruan bunyi detik arloji, hujan, dan sebagainya.” The word “Tak” means “tiruan bunyi tempurung diadu.”
Analyzing the lexical meaning of onomatopoeia in kid songs clarifies that so many kid songs used onomatopoeia unintentionally. Nine kid songs that analyzed in this study, the writer found 16 onomatopoeia. These onomatopoeiae include animal sounds, sound of things, and sound that human makes. Six different animal sounds came from the data. The animal sound that very obvious to use because songs with the animal as the theme seem very often used in kid songs. There were seven different sounds of things. These sounds are often used in kid songs to give more tension to the song. There are three different sounds that human makes. Usually, these sounds are used to increase the excitement of the songs.
This study proves that so many kid songs used onomatopoeia and people didn’t realize it. People usually just sing the song without knowing the meaning of the word they used in the song. And so many kid songs used onomatopoeia to increase the tension between the lyrics and the melody so the kid sings along with the song.
Literary Sound Devices To Create Mood: Onomatopoeia. (2024, Feb 03). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/literary-sound-devices-to-create-mood-onomatopoeia-essay
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