Words of onomatopoeic origin

[Mentilliath]

Do you have any words in your conlang that are onomatopoeic or mimetic in origin? I'm talking less about actual sounds (such as "boo-hoo" or "woof") but actual inflected (if it applies) nouns and verbs that derive from sounds.

I was reading about the Latin word for owl, būbō (Ital. gufo) that ultimately derives from a PIE root imitating the sound the owl makes.

The Halvian word for dog, árvos, is derived from the English onomatopoeia "arf, arf".

The Halvian word púnsis, meaning "strike" is derived from the sound of doing so (the onomatopoeia "pow!" comes to mind). The word blāma, meaning "cry" or "call" (as in, one that calls together a gathering), is derived from the sound of a trumpet or horn. The verb dínise means to "ring". Guess where that one came from. There is also a Halvian drum called a baúmbos, which clearly derives from its sound.

That's all I can think of at the moment. What onomatopoeic words do you have?

[vijayjohn]

In Mountain Lion, xhee means 'rain' (because that's kind of what rain sounds like as it falls), xhh means 'snake' or 'python' (an imitation of a snake's hiss), xrrap means 'blood' or 'liquid' (an imitation of slurping), plop means 'drop' and (by extension) 'to give birth to', bow means 'bad' (from a dog's bark), meow can mean 'cat', 'no', or 'not', or it can even be a generic expression of sadness, and...see my thread on Mountain Lion for all the possible meanings of grrowrrr (which comes from a mountain lion's growl)!

[Koko]

In Isyan, I've decided to take a more onomatopoeic route for some animals:

mau(ma) — cat (particularly domestic)
ùrf(ma) [ùrf= arf] — dog (particularly domestic)
koka — crow
aü(a/ma) — wolf [used most commonly in reference to a famous wolf, a beloved person, or Eo (the god of wolves)]

Other words:

kega [from kehe] — laugh
kegejan — to laugh

heszeyan [from hesz] — to shush, to quiet
heszamma — a place of peace, a place for resting

topitopejan [topi = sound of stepping] — to step, to take a step, to walk (down smt)

jagdeppa [jag = sound of shaking] — one who frequently shakes
jagkejan — to shake, tremble

yufmarzejan [yuf = sound of chatter] — to chat with, make chit-chat
yufyuffa — friendly chatter, chit-chat
navibyufa — a type of cookie one usually eats during a session of yufyuffa

[Mentilliath]

Thanks, guys. I'm always interested to find out words that have a non-arbitrary origin.

And Koko, your word for "dog" might fool an amateur linguist into thinking Halvian and Isyan have a common ancestor

[Ahzoh]

In Vrkhazhian, we have ṟaẇṟaẇ as an alternative word for zmeru "crow".

[Koko]

And Koko, your word for "dog" might fool an amateur linguist into thinking Halvian and Isyan have a common ancestor

*ahem*

This time you made the link!

[Levike]

Hó <---- question particle (from "huh?" or "hmm?")

Botó <-- fear (from "booo!")

These are the only ones I can think of.

[Fox Saint-Just]

So far, Novbasa has:
- hacu to sneeze
- hul to howl
- hupupa hoopoe
- kri to scream
- ronron to purr