Wenzhounese ideophones: Phonosemantic mapping, marking and semantic domains

Abstract

Many languages contain ideophones – ‘[members] of an open lexical class of marked words that depict sensory imagery’ (Dingemanse, 2019, p. 16). Despite growing interest, few languages have received extensive description of their ideophonic lexicons. This thesis is a description of ideophones in Wenzhounese, a Wu (Sinitic) language known for its complex tone sandhi. The three main areas of inquiry are how Wenzhounese ideophones are marked, how they employ mimesis in order to depict sensory imagery, and the kinds of sensory imagery they depict. The analysis is based on data collected from several native speakers in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as data from a Wenzhounese dictionary (Shen & Shen, 2009). Firstly, I present evidence for a marking system including reduplication, tone, and semantic radicals. An additional elicitation-based experiment was conducted, showing that unlike other Sinitic languages, there is no evidence tone sandhi is involved in marking. I then demonstrate several phonosemantic correlations, revealing mimesis occurring at the level of the sound. Finally, I discuss the semantic domains of ideophones using a semantic map developed by Van Hoey (2022) and show that they are broader than many other Sinitic languages previously studied. Based on the semantic domains observed, I also propose a refinement to this typological tool. Show more