Ding-dong theory

Ding-dong theory, proposed by Karl Wilhelm Heyse, speculates that language originated as imitations of naturally occurring sounds.1 The idea is that all things have their own resonance (this is true, as far as I understand physics) and that humans have echoed these resonances with their speech.2 It’s kinda like onomatopoeia. It reminds me of that sociology experiment on the words bouba and kiki.

This theory is not considered seriously anymore, but it does bear some use to a poet. It also has implications for the words we use to describe sound, which I realized based on the advice to Use vowel and consonant sounds to help you identify frequencies. A reminder: [[ All models are wrong, but some are useful ]].

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