Sound symbolic and grammatical frameworks: a typology of ideophones in Asian and African languages

Abstract

In this article it is demonstrated that two conceptual frameworks dominate the study of ideophones: the sound symbolic and the grammatical class. The sound symbolic approach (predominant in Asia) is used to analyze ideophones with predictable correlations between their phonological shapes and the meanings denoted. The grammatical class framework (Africa) is relevant for Southern Bantu where ideophones form a lexical class most of whom show no correlation between their phonological features and the meanings denoted. Further, we argue that although Southern Bantu ideophones have been studied for a century, the results are inconclusive because of a fundamental flaw in Doke's methodology which subsequent researchers adopted uncritically. In the article Samarin's proposal is advocated which suggests that phonological, syntactic, morphological and semantic properties be considered in determining a grammatical category. Kulemeka demonstrates this for Chichewa. A similar approach is needed for Bantu ideophones to determine their grammatical class.