ABSTRACT
Every language has a set of words in which there seems to be a direct link between the form of a word and its meaning. Such a link is known as sound symbolism. In English, for example, words like cuckoo and peewit imitate the call of the birds they represent; bang, wallop suggest the noises that are made when different objects collide; and certain sounds can suggest exertion or weight (the -ump in lump, pump, thump), light and movement (fland gl-in flame, flicker, gleam, glimmer), and repetitiveness (-er and -le in stammer, twinkle).
