SOUND MATTER IN ENGLISH PHONONYMY

Abstract

The paper describes the semantic content of sound names in modern English. The list of sound names includes oneword lexemes and phrasemes. The respective terms suggested by the author are phononyms and phonophrasemes. The whole word-stock representing the sound universe makes up the world sound image (WSI). Nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs participate in the process of WSI formation. According to our way of thinking, phononyms are to be studied within the special subject of‘phononymy’ that must be part and parcel of lexicology.
Besides, the paper investigates the linguistic particulars of sound genesis because it (sound production) actually offers a special mode of sound naming. The other mode of sound naming is offered by the notions of sound perception. To meet the needs of description, the author has introduced a number of new terms such as ‘phononym’, ‘phononymy’, ‘acoustive’, ‘actor’, ‘reactor’, etc.