RT Article
T1 To Sneer, Scoff, Scorn, and Cluck: An Onomatopoetic Verbal Complex in R1-n-ṣ?
JF Altorientalische Forschungen
VO 52
IS 1
SP 66
OP 69
A1 Richardson, Seth Francis Corning 1968-
LA English
YR 2025
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/1930091605
AB Several verbs in Akkadian constructed from the radical set R1-n-ṣ relate to expressions for disgust, scoffing, and scorn. This note argues that the verbs may phonically embed a verbal clucking sound ( nṣ ) which further indexes a set of paralinguistic expressions also communicating disdain: curling the lip, baring the teeth, snorting, and looking haughtily down the nose. The verbs may have been constructed onomatopoetically, as lexicalized representations of not only social concepts but sounds, speech perceptions, and kinesthetic expressions which could never be preserved in written form.
K1 expressions of disdain
K1 kinesthesia
K1 onomatopoeia
K1 paralinguistics
K1 speech perception
DO 10.1515/aofo-2025-2004